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University of California. 



FROM TIIK IIRKAKY OF 



DR. FR^AJNCIS LIEBER. 
Professor uf History and Law in Columbia ColKgo, New York. 



THi; GU'T OF 



MICHAEL REESE, 

Of Sa/i Fra!iC!.<ii>. 



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THE 

CABINET CYCLOPAEDIA. 

CONDUCTED BY THB 

REV. DIONYSIUS LARDNER, LL. D. F.R.S. L. & E. 
M.S.I.A. F.R.A.& F.L.&F.Z.& Hoii.F.C.P.S.ftc.4be. 

A88I8TKD BY 
EMINBNT LITERARY AND 8CIENTIFIG MEN. 



U8X3'UZi ARTS. 



TREATISE 

ON THE 

0KI6IN, PROGRESSIVE IMPROVEMENT, AND PRESENT STATE 

OF THE 

SILK MANUFACTURE. 



Sililatlrelpiiia : 

CAREY & LEA— CHESTNUT STREET. 

1832. 



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LIST OF WOOD ENGRAVINGS- 



Page 

l.^lkwonns , 98 

2.Cocooitt ., 100 

^ Chrysalis 101 

4. Moths , ^ 104 

5. Frame with Slides or Drawers for Worms '• 117 

6. Arbors for ^Ikworms to 8]Hn 120 

7. Reeling-machine • «... 155 

8. Winding-machine i.. 167 

9. Throwing-machine 169 

10. Doubling-machine 172 

11. Silk-loom r 180 

12. Part of Do. (Batten) 182 

la Shuttle 185 

14 Diagram descriptive of the Method of giving '*a Pearl edge** 

toRibands 191 

15. Movable Shuttle-boxes 195 

16. Diagram descriptive of plain Weaving 196 

17. Ditto of twilled Weaving ib. 

18. Jacquard-machine, fig. 1 ....« 202 

19. Needle of ditto 203 

20. Revolving Bar of ditto ib. 

21. Perforated Card-slips of ditto 204 

22. Jacquard-machine, fig. 2. « 206 

23. Jennings's Improvement on the Jacquaid-machine 210 

24. Part of ditto (perforated board) 211 

25. Design Paper for Figure-Weaving 212 

26. Diagram to show the Structure of Velvet .' 226 

27. Section of Wire used in weaving Velvet 227 ^ 

28. Diagram descriptive of Gauze Weaving 230 



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CONTENTS. 



PART L 
mfirroRicAL aoooumt of the rise, fboorbbb, and frsbbnt 

STATE OF THE CULTURE AND IC4NUFACTtRE OF SILK. 

CHAPTER I. 

HISTOKT OF SILK. TO THE PERIOD WHEN SILKWOBMS WERE FIK8T 
INTRODUCED INTO EUROPE. 

Time of it> earliest Use uncertain.— First produced and adopted in iAmb 
East — China the Country of the Silkworm.— The Seres of the An- 
cients, the Chinese of the Moderns. — Silk inanu&ctared at an early 
Period in the Island of Cos.— Curious Process.— ^Ik among the 
Persian Spoils acquired by Alexander the Great— -Aristotle's De- 
scription of the Bombyx. — ^Absurd Notions of diflerent Writers.— 
Silk hijghly prized in Rome. — ^Marcus Antoninus sends Ambassadors 
to Chma. — ^Persian Monopoljr. — ^Attempts of Justinian to destroy 
this. — ^His Failure. — ^Introduction of the Silkworm into Constanti* 
nople. — ^Imperial Manufacture. — Silkworms successfully reared in 

~ other FartB of Greece.— Surprise of the Sogdian Ambassador. — De- 
struction of Mulberry trees m China Page 13 

CHAP. n. 

BISTORT OP SILK CONTINUED: FROM THE PERIOD WHEN SILKWORMS 
WERE FIRST INTRODUCED INTO EUROPE. 

Difiusion of die Silk Manu&cture. — Successful Estab^shment in Sicily. 
— Gradual Introduction into other Parts of Europe. — ^Marco Pola — 
His Account of the Prosperity of China.- Enormous Quantity of 
Silk produced thero. — Production and Manu&cture in Italy. — In 
Spain.— In France^— Commerce of Antwerp. — Acceptable Gift to 
^een EI&Eabeth. — ^Manu&cture of Silk in England. — ^Invention of 
the Stocking Frame.— Tardiiiess of its Adoption ^ 25 

CHAP. in. 

HISTORY OF SILK CONTINUED. — ^ATTEMPTS TO NATURALIZE THE SILK- 
WORM IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES. 

Exienskm of the Culture in France by Henry IV.— Eflbrts of James I. 
to promote the same Object in England.— His Failure.- Partial and 
temporary Success in American Colonies.— Renewal of the Attempt 
in England — ^gnal Success in India.— Exertions of the Russian 
Govanment-^lk produced in Bavaria.— In Prussia.— In the Mau- 



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ViU CONTENTS. 

ritiu8.~Notice of Attempt in Sweden.— Formation of a Silk Com- 
pany in England. — ^Endeavor to produce Silk in Ireland. — ^This At- 
tem^ abandoned. — ^Hope of Success in Malta. — Recent Attempt in 
SLHelena. ., 34 

CHAP. IV. 

TRADK OF FOREIGN COUNl^MSS IN SILK. 

Chiiia.--France.-4taly.---Sicily.— -Turkey.— Switzerland. — Pmana.^ 
Riunia. 46 

CHAP. V. 

PROGRJESS MADE IN ENGLAND IN THE MANUFACTURE OF AND TRADE 
IN SILK. 

Earliest Records of the Introduction of small Wares.— Of broad Silks. 
— Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. — Royal Lustring Company. — 
Treaty of Utrecht — ^Commercial Treaty with France. — ^Introduction 
of Tnrowing-machinery at Derby from Piedmont — Distress of 
Weavers. — ^Their tumultuary Proceedings. — Prohibittuy Laws. — 
Spitaliields Act — ^Bengal Silk. — ^Reduction of Duties. — Kemoval of 
Restrictions on foreign Importations. — Repeal of Spitaliields' Acts. — 
Great Extension of Silk Manufacture. — ^Improvements.— Compara- 
tive Amount of Trader— Smug^Kng.— Cost of manufacturing in 
France and England. — ^Duties and Drawbacks. 55 



PARTE. 

ON THE CULTURE OF SILK. 

CHAPTER L 

ON THE CULTURE OF THE MULBERRT TREE. 

Di^rent Species of the Mulberry tree^ — Comparative Qualities as 
Food for Silkworms. — Soil and Situation most favorable for its 
Growth. — Manner of raising it — ^From Seed. — ^From Cuttins8.-^In- 
grafting. — ^Number of Broods of Silkworms annually reared in dif^ 
ferent Countries. — ^Nutritive Qualities of the Mulberry leaf— Pre- 
servation of Leaves. — Quantiljr of Leaves that may be annually^ 
taken from one Tree. — ^The Mulberry leaf sacred to tiie Silk- 
worm. , f.. 86 

CHAP. n. 

DESCRIPTION OF THE SILKWORIC 

Various Changes of the Worm. — ^Its small Desire of Locomotion. — 
Manner of casting its Exuviae. — Sometimes cannot be fiillv accom- 
plished. — Consequent Death of the Insect^— Progress of its Existence. 
— ^Material of which its Silk is formed. — ^Mode of its Secretion. — 
Manner of Spinning. — ^Floss silk. — ^The Cocoon. — ^Its Imperviousness 
to Moisture.— Transformation of Worm into a Chrysalis. — Periods in 
which its various Progressions are efiected in different Climates.— - 



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contbhts. IX 

Eflecti of inciMMed Temperature.— Modei of artificial Heating.— 
Oming forth of the Moth. — ^Manner of its Extrication. — ^Increase in 
Weight and Balk of the Silkworm.— Number of Eggs produced — 
Lei^gth, &c at different A^es.— Silkworms ii^juriously afi^ted by 
Change of Climate. — ¥aneties of Silkworms^ — Small Worms.— 
Large Species^— Froduce yielded bjr these 94 

CHAP. in. 

MODE OF REARING SILKWORMS IN CHINA. 

Silkworms sometimes reared on Trees. — Produce infenor to that nun 
in Houses. — ^Mode of dela3rin^ the hatching of Eggs.- Method of 
hatching. — Situation of Reanng-rooras. — ^Number of Meals. — ^Ne- 
cessity ror preventing Damp. — ^For preserving Cleanliness. — Space 
allotted to WormSd — Preparations fi>r Spinning. — Collection or C»> 
coons. — ^Destruction of Chiysalides. — Buildings employed for rtiring 
Silkworms in India. 108 

CHAP. rv. 

MODE OF RXARINQ SILKWORMS IN EUROPE. 

Great Degree of Carefulness required. — Absurdities formerly believed 
concerning Silkworms. — Choice of Eggs.— ^Modes of hatching. — 
Use of Stove-rooms. — ^Their Temperature.— Conveying of Worms 
to Rearing-house* — Necessity for classinff Worms accorainf to their 
Ages. — Rev. Mr. Swayne's Apparatus.-^pace allowed to Worms.^- 
Mode of feeding^.— Quantity of Leaves consumed.— Arbors for 
spinniiur. — ^Necessity for Attention to minute Points in Maiiagement 
— ^Regulation of Temperature. — Silkworms. — Will not spin in cold 
Atmosphere.— Ventilation.— Eflect of Noise.— Electric Influence. — 
Qmductors. 113 

CHAP. V. 

GATBBRING AND SORTING COCOQNIb 

Method of gathering. — Sorting. — Selecting for Seed.— Proportion set 
apart for breeding. — Methods of deAoving Vitatity of Chiysalite. — 
By the Solar R^s. — ^In Ovens. — ^By ^eam Heat — ^Preservatum of 
Cocoons.— Separation of dadiaged.— Good Cocoons.— Pointed Co- 
coons. — Cocalons. — Dupions. — Soufflons. — Perforated Cocoons.— 
Choquettes.— Cidcined Cocoons. — ^Tgeir relative Value. — ^I^porticm 
of pure Silk in Cocoons. — ^Proportional Weight of Eggs and Cocoons; 
anaof MnloBnT leaves. — Quantity of reeled Silk from each Cocoon. 
^Weight and size.— Labor required.— Deductions. ,...,..... 184 

CHAP. VI. 

DISEASES OF SILKWORMS. 

Generally result firann bad Treatment— Silkworms freqnendy reared 
in Cotteffes of Peasants. — Count Dandola — ^His great Improvements. 
— Dandolieres. — ^Mephitic Air.— Moisture. — EIxperimentB.— Jaundice. 
—Remedy. — Chlorine Gas. — Chloride of lime. — Fumigation. — ^L^ht 
not ii\jonotts.— Description of Apartments allotted to EKlkworms m 
Cotttges.^IUEfibcts which arise to their Attendants. 138 



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X CONTENTS* 

CHAP. vn. 

▲TTKHPTS TO SOBSTXTUTB OTHER FOOD FOR MULBERRY LEAVES IN 
REARING SII^WORHS. 

DoctorBeUardi'sExperimeiit— Lettuce-leaves-^Comparative Produce 
of Wonns fed wim these and with Mulberry leaves.— Miss Rhodes's 
Experiments. — ^Lettuce-leaves successfully used in a Hot-house. — 
Mn. Williams's Experiments.— Natural Antipathy of Silkworms. — 
Leaves of Scorzonera. — Recent A^mpt to rear Silkworms in Eng^ 
iand.^Abuidoned for want of suf&ient and appropriate Food. .. 177 

CHAP. vitr. 

ATTEMPTB TO PRODUCE SILK FROM DIFFERENT ANIMATE CREATURES. 

The Spider. — ^Discovery by Mons. Bon. — Manner of Spiders producing 
their Web. — ^Power of producing this of various degrees of Tenu- 
^. — Great number of Fibres composing one Filament — ^£Hfierent 
mnds of Threads. — Smder Ba^— Silk made from these by Mons. 
Bon. — Manner of its Preparation.— Great oomptfrative Advantages 
adduced by Mons. BoiL-^His Spider Estabhshnient — Investigations 
hy Reaumur. — ^His Objections.— Small Produce of Silk from Spiders. 
— The Pin]la.-»Descnption. — Delicacy of its Threads. — Reaumur's 
Observations. — Spinning Organ of the Pinna. — Manner of forming 
its Thread. — ^How difierent from that of Larui Insects. — ^Power of 
continually produciQg new Threads. — "The Pinna and its Cancer. 
Friend."— Nature oTtheir Alliance.— Manner of taking the Pinna. 
-^Its Threads known to the Ancients.— Peculiar Qualities of this 
Material 141 



PART m. 

OM THE MANUVACfrURE OF SILK. 

CHAPTER L 

RSEUNO. 

Arrangement of Filature.^-Seperation of difierent kinds of Cocoons. 
— ^Description of Reel — ^Maaner of Reeling. — Construction and 
Proportion of Reel regulated by Law in Piedmont — ^Precautions. 
— Size of Tliieads. — Regulation of Temperature. — ^Waste Silk. — 
Quantity reeled in a given Time. — ^Mode of ascertaining Fineness 
of Thread.— Spun Sil£ — ^Fleufet — ^French inferior to Italians in the 
Art of Reeling. — Regulations and Restrictions in Piedmont— Their 
Oppressiveness and hnpdicy 154 

CHAP, n, 

THROWING. 

Art brought from Italy.— Improvements since made.— Singles.— Tram. 
.---Oiguizine.— Boiling to dischaige Gum.— Italian thrown Silk.^ 



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COKTENIB. Xi 

Reasons for its superior Quality.— High proteoting Duty on Importo- 
tion.~Reduction thereof.— Improved Quality of English Thrown 
Silk.— Great fixtension of the Business^— Imraovements in Thrown 
ing Machinery, not adopted abroad. — ^Low Waffes the Occasion of 
this.— Expense of Organzining.— Waste in the Irocen. 1€5 

CHAP. m. 

PLAIN WKAV1M6. 

Antiquity of the Art — ^Involved hi Obscurityv — Little IiBprafvement in 
Weaving Apparatus. — ^Indian Manner of Weaving.^SimpIe Loom. 
— Mode of Its Action. — ^Warpin^ Machine. — ^Mounting Uie Loom. — 
Shuttle. — Methods of Weavmg. — Riband Weaving. — Engine- 
loom. 178 

CHAP. IV. 

FIGURE WEAVING 

Sumptuary Laws. — ^Antiquity of ornamental Weaving. — Stripes.—- 
Checlffl.— Changes of Colors. — ^Twills. — Draw-loom. — ^Dmw^boy. — 
Jacquard Machine. — Principle and Mode of its Action.— Card-slips. 
— ^Advantages of the Machine.— Jennings's ImprotenieBt— Obsta- 
cles to its original Intrsduction in, Lyons* — Superiority iji French 
Pbttems; 192 

CHAP. V. 

MECHANICAL OR POWER WEAVING 

Great Advantages of Machinery in abridging Labor.— First Proposal 
for aPowerJoom, — Dr. Cartwright*6 Invention.— Causes of its little 
Success. — ^Parliamentary Reward. — Austin's Power-loomw— Mode of 
its Action.^— Reasons for preferring Qand-weaving for Silken 
Fabrics. — ^Hand Power-looms. — ^Mr. Sadler's Inventicm. — Double and 
Quadruple Looms, Proportion wherein they are said to 
Labor. 

CHAP. VI. 

VELVET WEAVINGw 

Its first Introduction into England.— Chinese Velvets.w.Slrttcture of 
Velvet — Process of weaving it — ^Improvementg therein.— Figured 
Velvet — German Velvet 22& 

CHAP. vn. 

GAUZE WEAVING. 

Its Origin. — Structure.— Peculiarity of Arrangemenfs in Weavine 

Mode of putting these in Action.— Difficult ef the "^ 

riority of the French in Gaiun-weaving, accoanted fof. 



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3U1 COUVfilVTS. 

CHAP. vin. 

fiftOCADB, DAMAML, ETC. 

GoM «iid Silv«r Brocade.>-Metallic Tlireaih.—Gilt and silvered P&peis 
— Damasquitte. — ^Machinery employed in its Prodacticm. — ^Metnod 
of Restoring tarnished Brocaae. — Silk Brocade. — Damask. — ^Its 
Manu&cture Inroaght to England. — Mode of Mann&cture. — Cafiud 
Damask. — ^Persian. — Sannet — Gros^e-Naples. — ^Ducape. — Satin. — 
Crape. — Levantine. — Gros-des-Indes. — Watering. — Embossinff^-- 
Bfixed Goods.— Bombarfns.—^>plins. — Lustres. — Shawls. .... 7851 



PART IV. 

CHEMICAL, MEDICAL, AND ELECTRIC FROPEkTIES OF SILK. 

Coloring Matter of the Cocoon.— Maimer of bleaching Silk. — ** The 
bitter Principle."— Various Chemical Experiments.— Outte Aftgli- 
cann. — Silk a Protection a^pinst Malaria.— Formerly used as a Med- 
icine. — ^ItB Electric ftoperties. — How first discovered. — Various Ex- 
periments detailed. 243 

Notes 255 

Index. «..^....: 267 



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▲ 
TREATISE 

ON 

THE ORIGIN, PROGRESSIVE IMPROVEMENT, AND 
PRESENT STATE 

OP THE 

MANUFACTURE OF SILK. 



PART I. 



HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OP THE RISE, PSOCRESS, AND PRESENT 
STATE OF THE CULTURE AND MANUFACTURE OP BILK. 

CHAPTER L 

HDSTORT OF SILK, TO THE PERIOD WHEH SILKWORMS WERfl 
FIRST INTRODUCED INTO EUROPE. 

Time of its earliest use uncertain.— First produced and adopted in the East 
— China the Country of the Silkworm. — ^Tbe Seres of the Ancients tlM 
Chinese of the Modems.— Silk manufa<^ured at an early period in the 
Island of Cos. — Curious process.— €ilk among the Persian spoils acquired 
by Alexander the Great. — Aristotle's Description of the Bombyx. — Absurd 
notions of different liters.— Silk higUy prized at Rome.— Marcus Anto- 
ninus sends Aijibai^sadors to China. — Persian Monopoly. — Attempts of 
Justinian to destroy this.— His Failure.— Introduction of the Silkworm 
into Constantinople. — Imperial Manufacture.— Silkworms successfiiUy 
reared in other parts of Greece.— ^rprise of the Sogdian Ambassador.— 
Destruction of Mulberry Trees in China. . 

Silk, and the many textures wrought from this beautifbl 
material, are so universally and fkmuiarly known, that the 
peculiar manner of its production cannot fail to be a subject 
of interesting investigation. 

It is a wonderful fact, that the thick velvet and the stiff 
brocade, the thin gauze end the delicate blonde, should all 
be formed from tilie product of the labors of a little worm ; and 
we are irresistibly prompted to inquire how such results are 
^complished. 

To trace from their origin tiie progressive steps by which 
man has adapted to his use the various productions or nature, 
is rarely possible. All that can be collected concerning sev- 
eral of the important arts of life is, that they have flowed to 
ns from tiie eirst, and that many amcmg th^a have issued 
fHm China in a state of comparative perfectness. This is 
pa4ticularly the case with the sulyect of our present inquiry. 
B 



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14 SILK MAiaTFACTimE. PAMT I. 

It is impossible to fix the period when man first divested 
the chrysalis of its dwelling, and discovered that the little 
yellow ball, which adhered to the leaf of the mulberry tree, 
could be evolved into a slender filament, and thence be made 
to form tissues of endless beauty and variety. From a cer- 
tain point, we can trace the progressive improvements of the 
silk manufiicture, but seek in vain for authentic infi>rmatioii 
respecting its earliest origin ; and, while compelled to assim 
the merit of this to the Chinese, we cannot account fi^r the 
degree of excellence which the art had attained previous to 
the time when even the existence of the material became 
known in. the West This proficiency alone, however, af- 
ferds sufficient proof that the manu&cture was of no recent 
origin. The manual arts arrive at perfection by very slow 
decrees. Improvements resulting from invention, as diivtin- 
guished firom imitation, are seldom rapid ; and if this positicm 
hold good as a general principle, it is more especially applicor 
ble to labors unassisted by any save the rudest machmery, 
and practised by a people who, so far at least as we are iiK 
formed, could derive little aid firom science. 

Notwithstanding these disadvantages, the Chinese, in the 
remotest ages, produced sugar, silk, and many other mann- 
factures, with a degree of excellence which even now is 
scarcely surpassed. Yet while 6ther nations have been rapid- 
ly advancing in knowledge, they have remained stationary. 
Debarred from intercourse with their kind, less by the ob- 
structions which they raised to the' ingress of strangers, than 
by the vanity which led them to make so false an estimate of 
other nations, this extraordinary people drew upon the re- 
sources of their own intelligence for discoveries the most icn^ 
portant, and pursued them to an usefiil end with industcy tba 
most persevering. Their industry remains, but the intelli^ 
gence to which it owed its principal value appears to have 
been arrested.''' In the faculty of imitating, they are still 
considered unrivalled ; but this is a quali^ which would seem 
to place them in the train of other nations, rather than as 
taking the lead in discovery and civilization. 

The first introduction of Indian luxuries to the knowledge 
of the ancients, was accompanied by the most &bulous ac- 
counts of the regions of their production, and gave occasion 
fi)r many absurd speculations This state of ignorance was, 
no doubt, in a great part owing to the peculiar ptolicy of the 
Chinese, who, habitually and exceedingly jealous of all other 

*Not©A. 



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CtUJS V HISTORY OF SILK. 15 

people, enyeloped the pmctice of their various arts !n so 
much mystery, thai stratagem was often baflSed m the en- 
deayor to unravel it, leaving us indebted for the disclosure to 
ftortaitous eircumstances. 

In the attempt here made to trace, from the dark ages o^ 
antiquity to the present time, the progress of a trade and 
manufiicture so widely difiusod over ws civilized world as 
those of silk, chrondogical order is followed as closply as the 
nature of the inquiry will permit; . 

ReaaoDB already stated lead us to consider it probable that 
the inhabitants of China enjoyed the use of silk m>m a period 
greatly anterior to its introduction dsewhere. By the writ- 
ten records of that country, we are told that the- art of con- 
verting to their own advantage the labors of the silkworm 
was known and practised among them 2700 years befere tiie 
ecxnmencem^Qt of the Christian era. Their most ancient 
authorities represent the empresses of China as surrounded 
by their women, engaged in tiie occupaticms of hatching and 
rearing silkworms, and in weaving tissues ^m their inrwluce. 
To the empress See-ling-sh^e, the consort of Hoang-tee, ia 
ascribed the honor of having tot observed the silk produced 
by the worms, of unravelling their cocoons, and of wojsking 
the fine filaihent into a web of cloth. 

Silk is described by the ancients as coming first firom 
Serica or Sereinda, that part of India which lies beyond \he 
Ganges. Seres is the designation given by the Greeks and 
Romans to the people who inhabit^ those remote regions, 
and Sereinda is, apparently, a c(Hnpound of Seres and Indi, 
The latter is a general term, applied by the ancients to all 
distant nations, with as little precisicm as India is now used 
by modem Europeans. 

It is now so g^ierally admitted that the Ser^ of the an- 
cients are the Chinese of the modems, that it is unnecessary 
to enter ihto any discussion in proof of this belief Se is the 
name for silk in the Chinese lan^^uage ; this, by a fiiulty pro- 
nunciation, not uncommon in their frontier provinces, acquured 
the fina} t*, thus changing the word into Ser, the very name 
adopted by the Greeks. We can, tiierefore, hardly doubt 
that these obtained the name, as well as the material itself^ 
first from China. 

The labors of the silkworm, whose produce holds so im- 
portant a place among tiie luxuries of modem life, werei until 
the time of the emperor Justinian, wholly Confined to China. 
Long before that period, however, not only were manu&c- 
tur»9 pf silk introduced among the nations which then en- 



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16 



SILK MANVFACTUSS. 



PART I» 



gaged In commercial pursuitit, but the raw material gave 
employment to extensive mannftctoriee in Persia, Tyre, Be* 
lytiis, and elsewhere. 

The celebrated historian Ammianus Marcellinus deeeribes 
Ike Seres as a sedate and ^jfentle people, who avoid all conten- 
tions with neighbtHing nations, and are therefore exempt from 
the miseries and alarms of war. Being without the necessity 
for using ofienave weapons, they are even unacquainted with 
them. ]fiessed with a fertile soil, and a delicious and salubri- 
ous climate, they are represented as passing their happy days 
in the most perfect tranquillity and delightfbl leisure, amid 
shady groves fimned by gentle breezes, and producing fleeces 
of downy wool, which, after beingr sprinkled with water, is 
combed off in the finest threads and woven into sericum.* 

Marcellinus proceeds to describe the Seres as being content 
with their own felicitous condition, and so reserved in their 
intercourse with the rest of mankind, that when foreigners 
vulture witinn their boundaries for wrou^ and tmwrought 
silk, and other valuable articles, they consider the price otSsred 
in silence, and transact their business without exchanging a 
word ; amode of tndfic which is still practised in some eastern 
countries. 

(^ In the island of Kos, situated in the Archipelago, silk was 
manufactured at a very early period. Aristotle relates, that bom- 
bifkiOj or the stuff produced firom the homhyx (the silkworm), 
#as respmt and rewove by the industrious women of this 
island. Pami^a is celebrated as the inventress of this pro- 
cess. She unwove the precious material to reccmipose it in 
her ]oom into fiibrics of a more extended texture ; thus c<m- 
verting the substantial silk» of the Seres into thm transparent 
gauze, obtaining in measure what was lost in substance. 
Attempts have been made to ix>b the inventress of all the 
merit oelonging to this process, b^r identifying the bombykia 
with the raw material, which, it is said, Pamphila and her 
nymphs procured from Seres, and i^un and wove into sericum 
(Mr silk. . But the foot of the reweaving rests upon too good 
authority to Me doubted. It will be seen that the Roman liulies 
subsequently adopted this Pamphilian process. 

Pliny asserts that the bombyx was a native of Eos; but it 
is not probable that the women of that island would, in such 
case, have recourse to the laborious operation of convertinff 
foreign finished goods into threads for their own weaving, u 
is, therefore, only reasonable to suppose, that whatever manu- 



• Note B. 



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CHAP. I. RISTORV OF SILK* 17 

&cture was carried on from the raw material, was, like that 
of Tyre or Berytus, con^soeed of unwrought silk imported 
from the East. It is mentioned both by Theophanes and Zmia- 
ras, the Byzantine historians, that before silkworms were 
brought to Constantinople in the middle of the sixtihoentury, 
no person in that capital knew that silk was produced by a 
worm ; a tolerably strong evidence that none were reared so 
near to Constantinople as Kos.* 

Among all the rich materials gathered from various coun- 
tries for the embellishment of the celebrated temple of Solo- 
m(ni, no menticm is made of silk. The costly cloths used at 
ks dedication, and appropriated to the service of the priest- 
hood, are described as bemg c^ the finest linen. In Jerome's 
translation d the Bible, we find sericum enumerated among 
other articles of commerce sent to Tyre from S5rria, 5to 
years before Christ The suppjy must, however, have been 
exceedingly scanty, since, on ^e rebuilding of the temple, 
which was completed sixty-four y6ars after the last-mentioned 
period, the. records of the Jews make no mention of the sub- 
fltitatioii of silken for linen fabrics, as might reasonal>ly be ex- 
pected anKm^ a people who introduced so much magnificence ' 
mto their religious rites. 

The victorious army of Alexander the Great brought home, 
amcmg other eastern luxuries, wrought silks from Persia. 
This ambitious conqueror, while eagerly intent upon adding 
to his dconinions, was desirous also of extending the bounda- 
ries of knowledge ; not forgetting, amid his insatiable lust of 
empire, the mpre rational counsels of his learned preceptor, 
Aristotle, that he should explore thearj^ana of nature* To for 
cUitate this object, Alexander took with him, in his Asiatic ex- 
pedition, 1000 men, whose sole employment it was to collect 
animals, either by fishing, hunting, or hawking : these were, 
from time to time, carefully transmitted for the inspection of ^ 
the philosopher ; and for his further encouragement in the 
prosecution of his inquiries, Alexander p-esented him with 
the sum of 800 talents. So well did Aristotle avail himself <^ 
these o]»p6rtunities aflbrded by his royal pupil, that although 
his writiiigs on natural history are tne most ancient extant, 
.they are yet found to be more correct than those of many who 
wrote at later periods on that branch of science. 

Aristotle certainly gives the best account of the silkworm 
that is to be fopid in any ancient author, describhig it as a 
homed wcnrm, which passes through several transformations, 

* Note C. 
B^ 



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18 SrtK MANUFACTURE. PART la 

and produces t)oml^kia. It is remarkable, however, that al- 
tibough minute in his description of the worm, be yet fidls to 
indicate the country of its origin. 

Pliny, whose writings affovi evidence of so much erudi- 
tion, has given an account of the silkworm which greatly 
varies fixmi that of the Grecian philosopher. Assyria is as- 
signed by the Roman naturalist as the native country of the 
bombyx, and he transplants Pamphila and her manu&cture to 
Ceoe, an idand on the opposite side of the iGgean Sea, near 
to the coast of Attica. He tells us that the stuff which the 
M^cHnen of Rome unravelled aiid wove anew, was made fk»m a 
woolly substance, combed by the Seres from the leaves of , 
trees, and that draperies formed of this material were import- 
ed from the countiy of the Seres. 

During « period of nine centuries following the time oi 
Aristotle, various writers^ asserted that sericum was made, 
either from fleeces growing upon trees, 

* Velleraque ut foliis depectant tenuia Seres, — "t 

from the bark of trees, or from flowers. With that confusioa 
of ideas which was unavoidable in attempting to describe 
what they did not understand, these writers mingled toffether 
what they had heard or read of silkwcnrms feeding on miuberry 
leaves, with cotton growing upon shrubs, with flax, and with 
Coir, or the inner rind of the cocoa-nut Some few authors 
came nearer to the truth, and stated, that the silken filament 
was obtained frtnn a species of the spider or beetle. So dow- 
ly was the truth on this point disseminated, even among 
learned men, that Jsadorus, bishop of Hispalis hi Spain, though 
he lived a century ailer the introduction into Europe of silk- 
worma and the manu&cture of silk, was wholly i^orant upon 
the subject, and servilely copied Pliny ; so prone is the scholar 
to obtain his information from books, rather than to seek for 
accurate ideas in the study of things: 

Silk was very little known in Europe before the reign of 
Augustus, and, during a long succeeding period, it remained 
extremely costly ; only a smaJl quantity reaching the imperial 
city, by a circuitous and expeimve land and water carriage* 

In the reign of Tiberius the use of oriental sericum was 
appropriated in Rome wholly to women of rank. Men were 
rortramed W a law of the senate from clothing themselves 
with such emminate appareL This prohibition £d not mdeed 
prevent their using, during the heat of summer, the lighter 

♦NoteD. tVirgiL 



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^5^BP 



CHAP. I. HI8TOBT OF SILK. 19 

and inferiOT fabrics of Cos, notwithstanding tiie disappiova) 
&f the graver peoj^le, whose frowns proved of little effect in 
counteracting the incitements of vuiity^ The extreme slight* 
ness and transparency of these textures, which were dsa 
adopted by such females as could not procure the more cos% 
stufl^ furnished occasion for the censure and ridicule of the 
moralists and satirists of more than a century.^ 

Further to gratify the tastes of those whose circumstances 
did not allow them to adopt the use of so admired a material 
of dresSy a fabric was invented,, in which the costly filament 
was interwoven with a cheaper material. This manu&cture 
was siUhsericumj and was worn indiscriminately by males 
and females. , 

The accumulating wealth and increasing luxury of the Ro> 
man people caused the demand for silk manu&ctures to in- 
crease raster than their supply, and their price became exor- 
bitantly high. In the second century, the emperor Marcus 
Antonmus sent, on this account, ambassadors to China, in cat" 
der to open a more direct commercial intercourse with that 
country.f These ambassadors proceeded to their destination 
hf the way of Egypt and India. The Annals of the Chinese 
historian Ven-hien-tung recced this embassy, which did not 
prove more successfiil than embassies to China in other.days 
bare been. The Persians were, for centuries, the channel of 
cmnmimication between Rome and China, and their caravans, 
laden with merchandise, traversed the whole extent of Asia^ 
from the Chinese ocean to the sea-coast of Syria. 

The price of silk in Rome, during the third century, must 
have been very hi^h, when, amid the grosser enormities and 
more wanton prodigalities of Heliogakdus, it is- yet deemed 
'Worthy of mention and accusation, Siat he habited himself in 
M garment made wholly of that material, and which was 
thence called a kolo$ericum. . In the latter poit q£ the same 
«entury we find the more prudent emperor Aurelian refusing 
to the entreaties of his empress a similair luxury, alleging 
that such could only be obtained in exchange for its weiglS 
mgoWt. 

The luxurious habits of the Romans accompanied them to 
%zantium, and offered a rich harvest to the Persians, which 
they were long enabled to reap, owing to their monojpoly of 
the trade with India and China. This desire of obtaining a 
continued supply of luxuries, to which the former had been 
long accustomed, has been much censured, as evincing de- 

* Note £. t Note R i Note & 



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20 SILK MANITFACTVHB. PART !• 

ffeneracy from the sterner virtues of Uiek ancestors. It would 
Be difficult, however, to show that the Romans of the fifth 
century, employing their superfluous wealth in giving a prc^t- 
aMe direction to native industry, whde encouraging that c<»n- 
mercial enterprise to which they were indehtS for imported 
gratifications, were inferior to their rude fore&thers, who 
K>llowed no trade save that of the sword, *and whose com- 
merce with other countries consisted in war, and rapine, and 
desdation. 

Persia, in the prosecution of this intermedin^ traffic, fiir- 
nished silks to the inhabitants of Constantinople at prices out 
of all proportioi^ with their cost in the county of production. 
Their trade needed the infusion of some of the modem spirit 
of competiticm, so useful to the- great class of consumers ; or 
it {urobably was trammelled by the regulations and exactions 
<£ an arbitrary government 

The Romans beiijg at war with the Persians in the reign 
d Justinian, that monarch endeavored to. obtain supplies of 
Indian produce for his subjects through other channela For 
this pu^[>oee he sent embassies to Elasbaan, king of Axuma, 
and Esimiphffius, who governed the Homerit^ in Arabia 
Felix, then tributary to Axuma. Stimulated by the desire of 
gain, these princes fell readily into the views of Justinian; 
but, liirough their deficiency of skill and experience, were 
little able to fulfil their commercial engagements ; and the 
price of silk rose in Constantinople to a height whidi oblig^ 
even the most luxurious in a great degree to forego its use. 
This state of privation must not be altogether ascribed to the 
external relations of the imperial ^vemment. The Phoeni- 
cian manufiicturers were still willmg to supply their silken 
fabrics; but Justinian, with ^(»rt-sighted rapacity, injured the 
trade, by burthening the importation with heavy duties, and 
still more by regulating^ the price at which merchants were 
allowed to di^ftose of meir merchandise. The arbitrary or- 
ders of the emperor limited this price to a rate which, when 
converted into English money, was equal to 41. lbs. 9d., es- 
timated in gold, for the pound avoirdupois. This price was 
really greater than a siinilar amount at the present day, the 
value in exchange of the precious metals having been much 
reduced by the greater richness of the mines since discovered, 
and hv the superior methods used for working them. This 
interference of Justinian was enforced with the greatest 
strictness*^ the merchants engaged in the traffic were ruined; 
the scarcity of silk at Constantmople was converted into ab- 
i9olute privation; and the revenue of the emperor, the im« 



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CHAP. I. HI8T0ST OF SllJt. 21 

movement of' which was doubUess the gre«t motive fbt inter- 
ference, suffered in cc^isequence. 

The commerce of the Romans was in this state, as re- 
garded the article of silk, when they obtained relief in a 
very extraordinary and unexpected manner. Two Persian 
monks, having been employed as missionaries in some of the 
Christian churches, which, according to Cosmas, were already 
established in different parts of India, had penetrated mto the 
country of the Seres, or China. ** There, amidst their pious 
occupations, they viewed with a curious eye the common 
dress of the Chinese, the manu&ctures of silk, and the 
myriads of mlkworms, whose education, either on trees or in 
houses, had once been conodered the labor o£ queens. They 
socm discovered that it was impracticable to transplant the 
8hmrt*lived insect, but that in the eg^ a numerous progeny 
might be preserved, and multiplied m a distant climate.*** 
They observed with uiterest the labors of the little creature, 
and jMrove to make themselves acquainted with all the tnanual 
arts employed in waking up its^j>roductions into so great a 
variety of fiibrks. On Sieir return to the West, instead of 
communicating their knowledge thus acquired to their own 
countrvmen, they proceeded cm to Constantinoi^e. The pros- 
pect of gain, <»*, as some have asserted, an mdignant zeal/ 
excited by seeing a lucrative branch of conmierce euOTossed 
by unbelieving nations, prompted them to impart to the em- 
peror the secret, hitherto so well fureserved by the Chinese, 
that silk was produced by a species of Worm; and to acquaint 
him with their belief that the eggs of these mig^t be suc- 
cessfully transported, and the insects propagated in his do- 
minions. They likewise exj^ained to Justinian the modes of 
preparing and manu&cturing the slender filament, mysteries 
hitherto altogether unknown or but imperfectly understood in 
Ehurope. By the pntmiise of a great reward, the monks were 
induced to return to China, and there, with much difficulty, 
eluding the vigilant jealousy of the Chinese, they succeeded 
in obtaining a quantity of silkworms* egga. These they con- 
cealed in a hollow cane, and at length, in the year 552, con- 
veyed them in safety to Constantinople. The eggs ^vere 
hatched in the proper season by the warmth of manure, and ' 
the worms were fed with the leaves of the wild mulberry 
tree. These wcH'ms, in due time, spun their silk, and propa-' 

* Robertwn'tDiaquiiitionB on the Commerce of India. D'Uerbelot, 
Bitlkith. Orient art Harir. Procopius, Hi«t Arean. , Gibbon's Decline 
and Fail of the Roman Empire, chap. xl. 



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32 SILK MANVFACTUBB. PART I. 

gtted under the careftil tendance of the monks ; who also in- 
structed the Romans in the whole process of manu&cturing 
their production.'*' 

The insects thus produced were the progenitors of all the 
generations of silkworms which have since heen reared in 
Europe and tiie western parts of Asia,— of the countless 
myriads whose constant and successive labors are engaged in 
supfdying a great and still increasing demand. A caneild of 
the e^ffs or an odei^ital insect thus became the means of 
estaWiffling a. manuftcture which fashion and luxury had 
idready remlered important, and of saving vast sums annually 
to European nations, which in this respect had been so long 
d^ndent ad and obliged to submit to the exactions of their 
oriental neighbors. 

The desire of augmenting his revenue, that poweri^l mo- 
tive-with rulers both ancient and modem, mduced the emper<»' 
Justinian to take the infimt manufacture into his own hands : 
it was conducted under the management <^ his treasurer; 
and the weavers, apparent]j^ those brought from Tyre and 
Berytus, as well as others instructed l^ the monks, were 
G0EM)elled to work in the imperial manu&ctory. 

The altered circumstances wherein the manufkctnre was 
tiius placed, wrought a corresponding alteration in the mind 
of the eniperor as to the price which it was fitting should be 
paid by his su^ects for the indulgence of their vanity. Silks 
<^ the imperial manu&cture were sold at prices prodigiously 
beyond those which he had formerly prohibited as excessive. 
An ounce weight of the fabric thus manufactured could not 
be obtained under the price of six pieces of gold. The article 
was thus rendered eightfold more expensive tlian it had been 
under the restriction before the dikworm was introduced. 
This was the price demanded for common colors ; but when 
tinged with the royal hue, the fabric immediately assumed a 
quMbruple value. 

Und^ these circumstances of imperial rapaci^, the intro- 
duction of silkworms could not have much b^iented die Ro- 
man people. But the exclusive rearing of silkworms, and the 
manu&cture of their produce, did not long remain a merely 
royal prerogative. The discovery that the worm coidd con- 
duct its labors with as much advantage in Europe as m the 
climes where it first became the object of human attention, 

* Plooopiofl, De BeUo GothicOf lib. iv- c 17. Theophan. Byittat apod 
Fliotiiiin. Theophylact, lib. viii. et apud Fho^um. Zonaras, vd. iiu p, 
«>. edit 1557. ^ 



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CHAP. I. tttSTOKir 09 SIIJK^ 29 

was quickly made subservient to practical utility^ The imil* 
berry tree was planted with eager haste, and vast numbers of 
these valuable insect laborers were soon nounahed by their 
natural food, successfully reared in dififer^it parts of Greece, 
and particularly in the Peloponnesus. ^ 

The demand of silk from the East diminisdied ; the subjects 
of the Greek emperc^is were no lon^r obliged to have r^ 
course to Persia for a supply of. this article; and thence a 
considerable chan^ took place in the nature of the commer- 
cial intercourse with India. 

The establishment of the Turkish power in Asia, about the 
middle of the sixth century, together wilii subsequent wtam, 
had f^reatly interrupted the caravan trade between China and 
Persia. On the return of peace, the Sogdians^ an Asiatic 
people, who had the greatest interest in the revival of the 
trade, persuaded the Turkic sovereign, to whom they were 
become subjects, to send an embassy to Chosroes, king of Per- 
ma, to open a negotiation for this purpose. Maniak, a Sog- 
diui prince, who was ambassador, was instructed to requ^ 
that the Sogdians might be allowed to supdy the Pernam 
with silk. The ambasmdor presented himself before the Per- 
sian monarch in the double character of merchant and envoTi 
carrying with him many bales of silken merchandise, m 
which he hoped to find purchasers among the Persians. But 
Chosroes, who thought the conveyance by sea to the Pernoa 
Gulf more advantageous to his subject^ than this proposed 
traMc, was not disposed to lend a iavorable ear to tne lega- 
tion, and rather uncourteously showed his contempt of ue 
Sogdian traders. He bought up the whole of the silk which 
the ambassador had carried with him, and immediately de- 
stroyed it by fire, thus giving the most convincmg proof of 
the little value which it held in his estimation. 

After this the Persians and Chinese united against the 
Turks, who, to strengthen, themselves, sought an alliance 
with Justin, the emperor of the Romans* Maniak was tpjn 
appointed ambassador, and sent to negotiate the terms or the 
allmDce; but disappointment, though from a disttmilar cansef 
attended this his second embassy. The si^t of dlkworms, 
and the estaUishn^ents for numu&cturing their produce, in 
Constantinople, were as unwelcome as unexpecte d; but he 
ccmcealed his mortification, and, with perhaps an overBtndned 
civility, acknowledged, that the Romans were already become 
as ezpei*t as the Chinese in the management of the wor 
and the manufiu5ture of their silk.* 

* Gibbon's Dedine and Fall of the Roman £mpiie» chap^ xlii' 



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24 SILK MANUFA€nTB£. TASO! U 

The Venetiaau^ soon after this time, opened commercial iv* 
btioDS with the Greek empire, aud continued for mury cea^ 
times the channel for supplying the western parts of Eorope 
with silks. The estimation wherein this manufacture was 
held continued sufficiently hi^ for it to he considered worthj 
of bein^ made a regal gift. It appears that in the year 790 
the emperor Charl^nagne sent two silken Tests to Ofia king 
of Mercia. 

It was fortunate for the European admirers of silken gar* 
ments that they were thus rendered independent c^ oriental 
supplies ; for, in the year 877, Baichu, a rebd, made himself 
master of most, part of liie Chinese empire. When Canfii, 
the port of resort for foreign merchants, foU into his hands, 
he wantdnly massacred all the inhabitants, among whom it is 
said there were 120,000 foreign merchants, consisting of Ma- 
hometans, Jews, Christians, and Persees. The numl^r must, 
doubtless, have been greatly exaggerated by the historian on 
this oecatsion ; but the population of Canfu must have been 
very great, or no writer would have ventured upon recording 
80 vast a number of sufferers. 

This savage monster, Baichu, not content. with warring ob 
his own species, extended hia cruelty to those insects which 
were here so peculiarly the care of man ; devoting to indis* 
criminate destruction all those trees on which the silkworm 
was nourished, and consequently entirely destroying the silk 
trade during his reign. To complete the ruin of the country, 
he practised such extortions upon foreign merchants, thati 
during his sway they altogether gave up trading with China^ 

In the year 938, accordmg to Massoudi, Canm had recovn 
ered from the calamities thus inflicted, and again became a 
place of resort to the Arabian merchants as well as for trading 
vessels from India.- 

Many kinds oi silk manuilujtures, such as velvet, damask,, 
and satin, remained unknown for a long period liiter tiiia» 
during which time silk &brics ccmtinued to be wrought in in« 
creasing abundance in the Roman territoriesj which, either 
directly or indirectly, supplied most parts df Eurqie, until th». 
middle of the twelfth century. Although at this period (1146) 
the Roman emigre was fitst declining in the ecale of Batians^ 
and its po6sessi6ns were reduced within nearly the same 
limits as bounded modehi European Turkey before its kite 
dismembehnent ; still, even in their degenerate state, its xmee 
powerful people continued to excel omer nations of Exaope 
m the quality and variety of their mannfitctureo, and in met 



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ettA». n. HttTOftT Of 8IIJC. 2d 

iBgenti^DflliebartifluiB. Iliey alone possessed the valaable 
\aned of mlkworms which, 600 yean before, had been tran»- 
^rred from the remotest extremity of the East; and none 
others, up to this time, had manu&ctured its cosdy spoils. 



CHAPTER n. 

HISTOBT OF SILK OOmiNlTKD, IBOM THB PBBIOD WHBN SILB-. 

woBxs WKES fiBST nmtoBceED nrro boropb. 

' DifTasion of the SiHc MairafHetuK.^Suceessfiil EBtabliihraent in Sicilf .— 
Gradual IntroductioD intootber parts of Eorc^.—Maroo Polo.— His Ac- 
count of the ptospaity of Cbina.— Enonnoui quantity of Silk nrodiioed 
there.— Production And Manufacture in Italy.— In Spain.- In Prance.— 
Commerce of Ant^nerp.— AcGepiable gift to Queen ESizabeth.— Manu- 
iacture of Silk in En^^d.— Invention of tlie Stoeking Frame.— Tardi< 
ness of its adoption. 

It has be^ ^own in the precedinff chapter in what man- 
ner the culture of silk was introduced, and its manufacture 
laid open to the ingenuity of the western hemisphere. The 
egrtensicra of this branch of human ingenuity was at first ex- 
ceedin^ly-idow, imd we have seen, that for a period of 600 
jetifE, it was wholly confined to the territories of the Greek 
^npire. Its first difiusion followed upon the invasion of these 
territories by Roger I., kin^ of Sicily, who, not content with 
carrying off the wealtii of Athens, Thebes, and Corinth, as 
some fi^its of his successfiil enterprise, also led into captiviQr 
a considerable number of silk- weavers, ^om he cc»npuleori]y 
settled in Palermo, obliging them to impart to his subjects the 
knowledge of their art 

Without stepping aside to question the right of the rpyal 
marauder thus tyrannously to sever these unonending artisans 
fix>m the ties of countij and kindred, we may yet be allowed 
to ozpress some satisfaction at the consequences ' of his 
cruelly. It is well for the interests c^ humanity tiiat bless- 
ings, idthough unsought and remote, do sometimes follow. in 
the train or conquest; that wars are not always limited in 
their results to the exaltation of 6ne individual, the downfall 
of another, the slaughter of thousands, and the misery of 
mHlicms, but sometimes prove the harbingers of peaceful artSi 
heralds of science, and even deliverers &om the yoke of 
slavery or superstiticm, 

ia twenty years from this forcible establishment of ih» 
nanofiicture, the silks of Sicily are described as having at- 
tained 1^ decided excellence ; as being" of diversified patterns 
C 



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1^ 8IVK MANVFACTUBB. PAST I. 

and cc^ra ; mme §meiMLj interwoven with gM ; some rie^ 
ibdcHmed with figures ; and others tastefully embellished wkn 
pearls.* The indust^ and inffenuity thus called forth, could 
not fiiil to exercise a benefici^ influence over the character 
and condition of the Sicilians. 

By degrees the knowledge of the.several processes required 
in the art spread over the greater part of Italy, and was car^ 
ried into Spain ; but it was not until the reign of Francis L 
that the silk manufacture took root in France. A still Icm^^er 
interval occurred before its adoption in England ; and its m- 
troduoticm, even th^n; was veiy slow, ^ere is no doubt, 
however, that the use of silk was extensively adopted in this 
country at an early period after the conquest; for m the year 
1251, at the celebration of the marriage between Margaret, 
daughter of Henry IIL, and Alexander UL, of Scotland, a 
meet extravagant display of magnificence was made, and, on 
the nuptial day, 1000 English Imights appeared in coinHaeg 
of nlk. These, however, were nbt retained during the entire 
festivities ; but on the next day were thrown asidef to be re- 
placed by robes equally gorgeous and splettdiiA^ 

At the elose of the thurteenth century^ the eelelnratied 
traveller Marco Polo gave to the world a narrative of Im 
wandefings, wherein is contained a particular and Interestidl^ 
account of Cambalu, the royal city oi China. It would be 
irrelevatit to the subject of this volume to repeat many details 
of its opulence ; but this ¥dll be sufficiently evidenced 1^ 
showing the abundance of silk in which it traded. **No 
fewer," he informs us, " than 1000 carriages and pack-horses, 
loaded with raw silk, make their daily entry into the city; 
and silks of various textures are manufactured to an immense 
extent" He describes the whole country of China to be fiUed 
with great, lich, and crowded cities, thronged with manufoc- 
turers of silk aiid other vahfable merchanfise. 

Sevefial provinces of Chi<ia are so fertile with mulberry 
trees, and tneir climate is so congenial to the nature of silk* 
worms, that the qtiantity of m\k produced is very great Du 
Halde says, •* Every body knows the abundance lOld beauty 
iji the silk which is niade throughout Chula." The ancients 
showed their knowledge of this abundance, when they called 
it the Kingdom of Silk ; and the moderns know it from ex« 
perience-'for mtoy natKxis both of Asia and of Europe draw 
vom it the superabundance of its produce ; and every yepir 
iAiips and caravans leave the country, laden with vast quanti- 

""NoteH. 



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eHAP* n. HisTOBY OF shjb:* 27 

tiefr of both the wrought and tmwrong^t matemL Yet 
although thus lavishly sent forth, Btill, such is the amount 
produced, that silken fabrics, eitiier wrought of the simple 
inatejrial, or muced with gold or silver, are consumed through- 
^t the empire to an almost incredible amount If any omer 
pTooit were wanting of this inexhaustible abundance, it might 
he found in ikie 365 barks, which the two provinces of Nan- 
Jun and Che-kiang alone send every year to the court, laden 
fiot only with pieces of wrought silk, satins, and velvets, of 
various kinds and ccdors, but even with rich and costly gar^ 
/nenta To this evidence may also be added, the many hun-^ 
dred thousands of pounds' weight of v^ought arid unwrought 
;Silk which the provinces pay ea^h year as tribute to the em- 
peror.* 

It has always appeared to be the policy of the rulers of this 
^empire to restrain rather than to encourage a taste for com* 
mercial enterprise among its people. Abounding in so many 
imxluetions coveted by other nations, it is remarkable that 
they have at all times merely tolerated foreign commerce, 
esteeining the great influx of numey which it pours mto their 
country as of no advantage. Possessing, under their varied 
range <^ climate, not only all the^ necessaries and comforts, 
but even the luxuries of life, and believing that they are mas- 
ters of every kind of knowledge that is useful to or attainaUe 
by man, they feel themselves wholly independent of foreign 
patjona, and effect to look with contempt upon such less fortu<r 
nate beings as are compelled to leave their own countries in 
search of Chinese superfluities.-^ 

Although the various periods when establishments for the 
fvoducti^ and manufacture of silk were first introduced into 
the difierent countries of Europe may be ascertained with a 
tolerable degree of exactness, yet some discrepancies xx;cur 
in the many authors who have noticed the subject The 
lUfthofity, therefore, of those among them whose assertions 
nosaess the least degree of probability, must be rejected. 
There is mubh discordance in the various accounts of the 
introduction of silkworms and the manu&cture of their pro- 
duce in Italy. 

In the yea^r 1208, when the Venetians became masters of 
liiose provinces of the Greek empire which were the princi-» 
pal seats of the silk trade, they would hardly omit or delay to 
transport the manufacture and the worms into their own equally 
&vorable climate ; and it is also reasonable to imagine, that 

r ' • • * « 

^J^,ouvelle Elation del^Qiine, tNq^lir 



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98 8XtX MAtitTFACTVti£. M1U: I. 

the Crenoeoe^ when they obtained poeseBskm of GalnU, would 
hasten to traiisfer such lucrative.branches of industry to their 
own country. It may, perhaps, be subject of conjecture w 
controversy, in what precise manner, or at what period, the 
introduction took place into Italy ; but it is certain that in the 
year 1306 the rearing of silkworms had become of so much 
importance in Modena as to yield a revenue to the state, and 
that this city had arrived at so much excellence in the produc- 
tion, that its silk was then esteemed the best in Lombardy. 
In the year 1327, it was either considered advisable to aug^ 
roent the revenue derived from the silk trade in Modena, or 
otherwise this branch of industry was found to be on the de- 
cline. At that time the magistrates passed a law, obliging 
every proprietor of an inclosure (without, however, specify-. 
ing the extent of ground which rendered compliance with 
the law obligatory^ to plant at least three mulberry trees ; and 
farther ordering, that all cocoons, or silkworm pods, produced, 
should be publicly sold in the market, the buyer and seller 
payjnff each a tax to the revenue. 

Tiu the beginning of the sixteenth centuiy, Bolo^pia watf 
the only city of Italjr which possessed proper throwing mills, oar 
the machinery requisite for twisting and preparing silken fibres 
for the weaver. Up to that period the Modenese were obliged 
to send their silk to be thrown at Bologna. At length thQ 
genius of invention or imitation roused them into sufficient 
energy to acquire the art pf constructing and working ade- 
quate machinery fi>r their own purpose, and thence this 
preliminary branch of the manu&cture spread to other cities 
of Italy. 

In the vear 1300, many thousand people were employed 
in the silk manufacture at Florence, where it was then fol- 
lowed in a much greater degree than in any other of the 
states of Italy. 

Not only was the manufacture adopted likewise in Venice, 
but it was held in such high esteem, that the business of a 
silk factory was considered a noble employment, and might 
be practised without degradation by the higher classes. This 
was equally the case with two other trades, — those of the 
glass-maker and druggist, .which brought no contamination 
upon nobility in Venice. In a country where wealth was con- 
centrated in the hands of the powerful, it was no doubt highly 
judicious thus to encourage its employment for objects of pub- 
lic advantage. , A feeling, more or less powerful, has always 
existed iii tiie minds of the high-bom, against the employ- 
-ment of their time and wealth to purpose^ of commerce or 



B 



manaftctures. All trades^ save only that of war, seem to have 
been held by them as in some sort degradm^, and bat little 
comporting with the dignity of aristxx^ratic blood. 

Tne total expulsion of the Christians from %ria occasioned 
Egypt to become once more an entrep6t fer the greater part 
<^ the trade between the eastern and western regions of the 
world. The Egyptian government made the monqwly thus 
enjoyed by its subjects a fruitful source also of revenue, and 
imposed very heavy duties upon the transit of merchandise. 
"Marino Sanuto, a noUe Venetian, indignant at the impositions 
to which the European 'trader was subjected, and bumhig 
moreover with true catholic zeal, addressed a work to ibm 
pope under the quaint title of ^Secrets of* the fVdthflil,'* in 
m which he proposed to suppress the Egyptian trade by fi>rce 
of arms. This production ocmbs not, however, appear to have 
been owing to the sudden ebullition of an evanescent interest, 
hastily sent forth for the immediate relief of his opinreased 
Fellow-Christians : it was begun, as he informs us in his pre- 
ftce, in the year 1806, and was presented to his holiness in 
1321 ; during all which period of his literary labor, the ob- 
jects of his zeal were len exposed to all ^e grievous exac- 
tions of the £2gyptian government Viewing with envy and 
displeasure the vast amount of profits which the sultan and 
the Saracens derived ^m the trades in silk and sugar, hede* 
tails a plan whereby this source of prosperity mi^t at once 
be turned firom the race of unbelievers. Oliservin^ that silk 
was already poduced in considerable quantities m Apulia, 
Romania, Sicilv, Crete, and Cyprus, and that its production 
might be still nirther extended in those places, he solemnly 
adjures every good Christian to refuse die purchase of any 
merely suspected to have come from the domimons c^ the 
sultan. All direct intercourse with the unbelievers is ci 
course to be forbidden ; and this pn^bition to be strictly and 
tmiverailly enforced by stationaiy armed i^alleys ^ the in- 
tercepting of illicit traders. In conclusion, this crusade 
against stuf& and ccmdiments, with all the intolerant bigotry, 
mirelieved and unredeemed hy the chivalrous darmg, of Goo* 
firey de Bouillon or our own lion-hearted Richard, odls upon 
the captain of the holy church to wage perpetual and equal 
-war against the Saracens and those perfidions Christians who 
infringe his commands by trading with the unbelievers } 

It is recorded that Henry V. of England, aa his invasion 

at France, which led to the celebrated victory c£ A^incourt, 

xiccupied, t^ himself and his suite, two vessels, which were 

fitted up with all the magnificence of regal uplendor* The 

C 8 



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30 vox. HANUFACTVltS. »AJIT U 

one whieh hoi the honor of conveyiag hifi augnst person was 
called the King's Chamher, and was nirther distinguished by 
a sail of purple silk, on which were richly embroidered the 
arms c^ France and England. Henry's mind was not of an 
order to give way to the incitements of such luxury ; and he 
must have been far too much engroseed by the mighty pro* 
ject in which he was embarked, for the indulgence of such 
a weakness. He could only, in adopting a mow of ma^ 
nificence so unusual, have been actuated by the desire of 
dazzling the minds q£ his unenlightened followers, and of 
exciting them to repose additiomJ confidence in so potent a 
leader 

Spain, as well as Italy, had at this time made coimiderable 
l^rogress in the production and manuftu^ture of silk. Wh^ 
Ferdinand Y. c<»iquered Granada, and put an end to the 
Moorish power in Spam, he found there numerous establish- 
ments for the produi^on of silken fabrics, which were rivalled 
by others carri^ on in Murcia and Cordova. 

It is said that the first introduction of silk into France was 
ijccomplished by Louis XI., who obtained workmen ftom Gre- 
noa, Venice, and Florence, and established them at Tours, in 
the year 1480, under very extensive privileges. It does not, 
however, appear that much process was miuie in the manu- 
&cture until the reign of Francis I. During the time that the 
French possessed the duchy of Milan (1521), artisans were 
thence procured, who introduced the manufacture into Lyons 
under the fostering protection of the monarch. The people 
of France made a rapid progress in this pursuit; and, in ad- 
dition to those oi LyoDB, many manu&ctories were ^edily 
established in others of the south^n'provinces, supplying suf- 
ficient for their own consumption, and soon afterwaros even a 
superabundance for competiticm in foreign markets, furnish- 
ing many parts of Europe with the fi*uits of their newly cul- 
tivated art. In particular, France for many years derived 
con^derable wealth from prosecuting this branch of trade 
with England. 

AccoHii^ to Thuanus, the first introductiofi of the silk* 
worm into France was during the reign of Francis I. This 
author relator that Nourishing establishments for rearing silk- 
worms were then to be found in Provence, at Avignon, and 
Lyons. Much attention was bestowed upon this subject at 
Fontainebleau, but the climate did not prove congenial to the 
habits of the insect 

In the year 1554* a sumptuary law was made in England^ 
during the reign of th« arbitrary and tyrannical Mary, whose 



I^L 



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wm 



CHAP, a* mSTOHT OF flLK* 91 

49dftred object was the encouragement of home manuiluN 
turee^ and to restrain the growing vanity of the Jower classes 
of the people* This statute^ which affords evidence of the in- 
creasing intelligence and growing comforts of the middle 
class of English citizens, enacts, t* That whoever shall wear 
silk in or upon his or her hat, bonnet, or girdle, scabbard, hose, 
shoes, or ^r leather^ shall be imprisoneaduring three months, 
«nd forfeit ten pounds >*' exceptW from this restraint magis* 
trates of corporations, and all other persons of still higher 
condition. In the first year of ihe reign of James L this ab- 
surd statute was repec^ed. 

Guicciardini, in his description of the Netherlands, gives a 
hag account of the prosperity of the city of Antwerp in the 
micQle of the oxteenth century* which shows the great trade 
then existing in silk, and points out the countries which e<- 
p6rted or imported tliat article. The merchants of Antwerp 
exchanged at Bologna their own serges and other stu^ tapes- 
tries, linens, merceries* &c. for wrought silks, cloth of gold 
and silver, crapes, &c. To Venice they sent jewels and pearls, 
and the cloth and wool of England, and received in return the 
finest and richest wrought suks, &c. Naples took from them 
cloths of their own and of English manufacture, stufis, tapes- 
triaB, &c.» and returned raw, thrown, and wrought silks, &c. 
Sicily obtained from them serges, cloths, &Jc and paid for 
them in cotton, silk, Slc. The consignments of Milan were 
pepper, sugar, &c. ; the returns, wrought silks. To Florence 
ana Genoa, woollen stuf&, English wool, &c.: the impmts 
. from the first of these places were very fine wrought silk ; 
and from Genoa, other wrought silks, satins, and velvet. 

It would naturally be imagined, firom this view of the trade 
of Antwerp, that its citizens were extremely partial to gar- 
ments of ^k, and that these formed a common article of their 
dress ; but of all which they thus received in such profusion, no 
part was appropriated to their own use. ** Never any country," 
said Sir William Temple, ** traded so much, and consumed so 
little. They buy infinitely, but it is to sell again. They are 
the g^eat masters of Indian spices and Persian silks, yet wear 
plain linen, and feed upon their own fish and roots ; they sell 
the finest of their own cloth to France, and bigr coarse cloth 
out o€ England for their owti wear : they send abroad the best 
of their own butter, and buy the cheapen out of Ireland or 
the north of England for then: own use. In short, they furnish 
infinite luxury which they n^ver practise, and traffic in plea- 
■ores they never taste.'* 

It js rekted by Howell, in his " History of the World,'* 



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82 SILK MAmrFACitrHX. past t. 

that queen Elizabeth, in the third year of her reien (1500,) 
was gratified bv being presented with a pair of knit Hack 
silk stockings by Mrs. Montague, her silk-woman, at which 
^e was so much delighted that she never afterwards conde- 
scended to wear those of cloth. It might have been supposed 
that Elizabeth's inordinate fenchiess for dress would have in- 
duce4 hex to give every encouragement to the manu&cture 
of 80 elegant a ^bric as dlk : it does not, however, appear 
that much progress was made in it during her reign. C«i* 
tent, probei^, wjth her own acquisition, me might be desir- 
ous that the more becon^ing silken texture shoi^d remain a 
regal privilege ; and whQe she displayed her own ancles in 
the deUcate silken knit, ^ivas, perhaps, well pleased that her 
maids of honor should conceal theurs under the clumsy and 
inelegant cloth hose, lest, haply, amonj^ these some mig^ 
)iave oeen found rather more beautiftJly formed than her own, 

Henry VIIL, that magnificent and' expensive prince, could 
not in tuis respect indulge his vanity as successfiilly as his 
chtughter, and was obliged to wear cloth hose, except when, 
by great chance, he was able to ol^ain a pair of silk stock- 
ings for rala davs firom Spain. Sir Thomas Gresham pre- 
rented Edward VL with a pair of long Spanish silk stock- 
ings ; and, frcon their jrarity, this ofiTering was deemed wor^y 
of much notice. 

The city of Antwerp, having been taken after an obstinate 
resistance, in the year 1585, by the duke of Parma, then 
governor of the Spanish Netherlands, it was consigned during 
3u^e days to inaiscriminate plunder And destruction* Its 
ruin was a death-blow to the commei;ce of the Low Coun- 
tries, and the noble manufiictures of Flanders and Brabant 
were di^rsed into various countries. About a third part of 
the artisans aiid merchants whp wrought and dealt in sillj: 
jtook refiige in England, where they finally settled, imd 
tHught those arts by which they had long prospered in their 
9ativ6 land. 

By these means the manufacture was very materially ink 
roved in England, and became one of national importance, 
» as to be the object of royal proclamations and legislative 
lenactments for its regulation. For a long time, however, 
forei^ silk goods continued to be preferred in this country; 
|imd in the year 1668 the tide of fashion set entirely in fiivor 
lof French fiibrics ; so that it became a complaint tnat ^ the 
women's hats were turned into hoods made of French silk, 
wt^ereby^every maid-servant became a standing revenue t9 
Ihe French km^ of one half of her wages." 



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Notwithstanding this predilection for foreign goods, which 
may have existed independently of their merits when com- 
pared with Ens^lish fabrics, that wiiich was foreign being 
chosen merely oecause it was fi^reign — a sort of preference 
which is not, perhapSt without a paiaUel in even this more 
rational age, — notwithstanding this, the English manufacture 
has gone on steadily advancing in quality and amount, so as 
to afford one of the most striking instances cm reoord, in 
which an art, borrowed 6rom other nations* and employed 
on a material of entirely fbreign growth, has been made at 
least to equal, if it does not surpass, the productions of thoae^ 
countries from which it was derived. 

At the close of the sixteenth century, the English, wh 
bad previously been c<wtent to adopt the inventions tuid tii^ 
plans of others, began upoii that course of mechaiucal 
provement, which luts since been ppsecuted tio such imp 
ant resulta An engine for knitting or weaving stocki 
was at that tim«e invested by the R«v. William Iiea, of i 
^^'s College, Cambridge, which was important, not only aji 
. it enabled our anoestors to discaird their former inelegant 
hoae, but likewise as it caused the English manu&ctures to 
excel all of foreign pvoduction, and to be sought after aon 
cordingly. The inventioa of this stocking frame enabled the 
manu^Uirer to export vast quantities of silk hose to Italy. 
These moiatained their superiority for so long a period, that 
Kmder, in his Tnsvels through Europe, as late as the year 
ITaD, remarks, that ** at NajUes, when a tradesmui would 
highly recommend his silk stockings, he (Hrotests they are 
right English." 

The success attendant upon Mr. Lea's invention was not, 
however, immediately consequent upon its introdqction. On 
the contrary, the small um made of stockings in Ei^land at 
that time caused the machine to be long neglected ; and so 
small was the encouragement which he met with at home, . 
that Mr. Lea, was led to comply with the invitation of Henry 
IV. of France, and, accon^>anied by several joume3nQaen, es- 
tablished his looms for a time at Rouen, in Normandy. The 
subsequent assassination of his royal patroU) and the cbnse^ 
quent mtemal troubles of France, compelled him, however, 
to abandon this establishment; and ^ing into a state of des« 
titution, he soon afler died in Paris. 



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M iU xAifiTFAcnmB. FAinr f* 



CHAP. EL 
BunroRT OF SILK u m iimJiLir "Aim MFTs to natubauzb Tm 

SIIiSWOBM IN DIFFfiBENT COVIITRIS9, 

Sxtenrion of Uie Ciittove |b Tr^mre ^y Henry IV,-*£^rts of James I. to 
promote tbe Bf^me o^est, in England.— His failure.— Partial and tempa- 
rary Siu^oesa in Anrerican CToIonies.— Renewal of tbe Attempt in E^nglandf 
—^gnul suQDeas in India.— Exertions of tlie Russian Government.— €i]k 
ipoduced in Bavaria.— In Prussia.— In the Mauritius.— Notice of an At^ 
tempt in Sweden.— Formation of a Silk Company in England. — ^Endeavor 
to produce Silk in Ireland.— This Attempt abanaoned.-Haopet of gtyccm 
|n Malta.— Recent Attempt at St. Helena. 

N«ABLY at the cloae of the nxteenth eentuiy, the att^itkm 
of Henry IV. (^ Franoe was paxtieularly tamed towards eib 
larking the £dlk Htanu&ctures in his king^fem. The stlkworni 
una the mijlberr^ tree had heen previoiuly propaf^ated in tba 
Lyoonois* Dauf^ine, Provence, and Languedoe ; but the king 
now naturalized the insect as &r north as Orleans, and brought 
silk to be a very general manufacture in France. 

There had been no alk manu&otories in Paris iintil the 
Pininans were encouraged by him to form establishments for 
this purpose. The letters-patent which the king granted oa 
this occasion are remarkible, as they conferred oa success 
and perseverance in this pursuit no smaller rewards than 
titles of i^obilily. These were bestowed upon the first manu* 
^icturers, (m condition that they should suf^rt the manu£us 
ture for twelve years. The ambitkm of sundry jfood citizens 
peems strongly to have excited them tp yireave, m this novel 
mann^, the silken web of their exaltation ; and th^ manu&c- 
fure speedily flourished. 

Mezerav says, that Henry also planted mulberry trees neav 
Paris, aj^ attempted to breed eolkworms at the Tuileriea, 
Foiitainebleau, and the p^tle of Madrid. 

These eflbrts appeared for a time to be attended with suor 
(Bess; but later experience has shown that the silkworm can- 
not be profitably propagated in any i^ace north of the river 
Loire. The climate in the nei^borhood of Paris is decidedly 
un&vorable tQ the attempt The labors of the insect have, 
for a long period* Jbeen again confined to those departments 
of the south, whence* Henry sought to col(»uze his more nwtlH 
em provinces. 

tte cultivation of the mulberry tree in France has bee% 
represented as occurring so early as the b^inning of tbe fiR 
teenth c^vtuiy, in the reign of Charles 'Vul., and its ifi^ 



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€HAP*^in. HI8TOKT OF SILK. 95 

ducticm ascribed to some of the nobler who accompAaied that 
numarch in his Italian campaign. Other authorities as ccmfi- 
dently assert that Sicily was the country whence the mul- 
berry was first transplanted into France. However tibis may 
have been, its cultivation was-at fir^t confined to Provence, 
and was not even thete attended with much success untU 1^ 
time of Henry IV4 - 

In his endeavors to promote in every possiUe manner the 
production of silk in his dominions, this king ofiered great en- 
couragement to the Cultivators of mulberry trees, arid esta^ 
lished nui^ries whence young trees were freely giyen ia 
such landed proprietors as chose to apply for tiiem. 

Great anxiety has, at various times, been ^k>W|i by the 
jp'rench government for the extension of this culture ; but tiie 
greatest wisdom has not been always evinced m the dioioe^ 
of means for attaining ^ir object. Colbert, minister ci 
liOiiis XiV., in his impatience to increase the production of 
silk, did not content hmiself with merely giving trees fipoiit 
the royal nurseries, but also caused them to be removed mod 

Idanted at the government expense. This over-degree of* 
iberalilT^ however, defeated its object The treles thus emif ' 
acquired were but little valued, and were either fittaUy negt* 
lected or wilfully destroyed by the peasantry. The error m 
the government was b;^ this means soon made apparent, and 
a plan much more rational and efficacious was adopted. A 
feward of three livres was offered to the cultivator for every 
iree that should be found in a thriving coi^iticm three years 
after it had been planted^ Thus stimidat^ the cultivation 
was ccmducted with greater <5arefulness, anclj Provence, Leu*- 
guedoG, Dauphine^ Vivarais, Lyonnois, Gase^yy and Saint- 
onge became ^jeedily covered with mulberryitrees, although 
the production of silk was confined to the fouTrfirst-named of 
these provinces. 

The degree of success which attended the efforts of the 
French mcmarch to extend in his kii^om the production of 
siljk, excited in James L of England an active zeal for its in- 
troduction into this country. This object appears to have 
been a &vorite with him, as he took great i&terest in stimu* 
kting his subjects to reduce it to practice. ** Having seen,** 
says king James, " that in a few years' space our brother the 
French king hath, since his coming to that crown, both begun 
and brought to perfection the makmg of silk in his country, 
whereby he has won to himself honor, and to his mibjects a 
narveUous mcrease of wealth."*— After which preamble^ 



* Harlfiian MisceUany, vol it 



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96 ai&tt KAKUFAonms. part f. 

he goM on lo ny, ** tibflit, from the experience of many private 
personi who had bred silkworms for dieir pleasure, noUling 
had appeared to cause a doubt that these may be nouri^ied 
and reared in Eh^aad, provided th^^ were a sufficient num- 
ber of mulberry trees to suk>1v them with food." To obtam 
ihii requisite, he is found, in the year 1668, sending circulai 
letters to all the counties (^England, strongly recommending 
the inhabitants to i^nt mulberry trees. He directed the 
persons to whom these letters were addressed to take the op- 
pcMTtunity of the hiding (^ the quarter-sessions, or of any other 
public meeting, to^rsuade and require those who were able, 
to buy' and distrfliute in tiie counties the number of ten thou- 
sand mulberry plimts, which were to be procured in London 
at the rate of three farthmgs per plant Although at first 
the pahilc feeling was averse to the novel undertaking, yet 
the continuance o( the royal -sanction and support, and a con- 
sideration of the advantages reaped by other European nations 
from this souroe, at length engendered a growing interest for 
the project 

«o It may also be collected from some of king James's speech- 
es in the year 1620, that the people of England in general 
testified much interest on this subject But, notwithstanding 
the royal countenance, the attempt was never attended by 
even partial success : our climate being evidently too cold 
for the rearing of silkworms with advantage. Several other 
trials, Which have been made at later periods, have prov^ 
equally abortive. 

James was likewise anxious to introduce the silkworm into 
his American cdonies, and several times urged the Virginia 
company to promote the cultivaticm of mulberry trees and the 
breeding of silkworms. He addressed a letter to them ex- 
pressl]^ on this subject in the year 1622, convejring to them 
strict injunctions that they should use every exertion for this 
purpose, and should stimulate the colonists to apply them- 
selves diligently and promptly to the breeding of silkworms 
and the establishment of silk-works ; bestowing their labmrs 
rather in producii^ this rich commodity, than to the growi 
of " that pernicious and (^nsive weed" tobacco, an article 
to which his majesty has recorded and published his violent 
aversicm. 

The company, thus iilcited, showed much zeal in thefa* en- 
deavors to accomplish the king's wishes. They lost no thne 
Bi Uansmitting his majesty's letter to the governor and coun- 
ol^ Virginia, together with particular instructions how th» 
colonists n^ght beit employ their labors in the production of 



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CHAP. lU; UISTO&T OF SOiK. 97 

■Qk. For the furtherance of this object, theur UMtmetiom 
wore accompanied by several copies of a work on the man* 
aeement'of the silkworm, written by Mr. J<to Bonoeil. 
Thb gentleman, who was a member <tf the Virginia company, 
^i^&ged warmly in the undertaking ; and was so ililly cOn* 
▼mc^ of its practicability, as to assert that, with an adequate 
number of hands, such a quantity of silk might be produeejl 
in Virginia, as in a very short time would simciently supfdy 
all Chnstendom. 

The misfortunes soon after this time experienced by the 
colony of Virginia, andivhich involved the dissolution of ^e 
ceoipany, materially checked the execution of this project 
A considerable number of mulberry trees were' planted) and 
flouridbed; but little silk wasfffodneed: * 

In the year 1654, the rearing of silkworms again became a 
subject of interest in Virginia* This revival was principally 
owmg to the exertions <^Mr. Edward Diggs, who confidently 
asseited that he had conquered all the main difficulties at« 
tending the experiment He endeavored to persuade the 
Virginians that m a i^ort time a ^reat quantity of silk might 
be very prOfita&ly obtained ; l)ut it does not appear that the 
production was ever carried to any extent in that colony. It 
IS probable that the planters found a source of. greater profit 
in the growth of tobacco, for which they met with a ready 
market both in the mother country and the north of Europe. 

A renewed attempt to produce silk in England appears to 
have been made in the year 1629. This may be inferred 
&om a grant having th^i been made to Walter Aston, of the 
ctutody of the. garden, mulberry trees, and silkworms, near 
St James's, in the county of Middlesex ; although this may 
possibly have been a continuation of king James's project or 
the year 1606. The scheme was once agam revived in 1718; 
a patent having at that time been granted to John Appleton, 
esq. for producing raw silk of the growth of England. Ta. 
accomplish this undertaking, he was authorized to raise a 
fiind l^ jcHnt-etock subscriptkm. This he accomplished, di- 
viding iwd ca{»tal into shares of five pounds each. A deed 
of tnut was executed, and ^iroUed in the court of chanceiy; 
[ directors for managing the concerns of the company were 
chosen by the subscril^rs, and Chelsea park, being conveni- 
ently situated, and poesea^g a soil fiivorable for the purpose, 
was fixed upon as the spot on which the operatkms ^ouid be 
. conducted A lease of this jdace for 122 years was obtained*' 
and 2000 omlberfy trees were Booa actually pknted; tins 
tonmg bat a Mnall part, however^ c^ the vast quaiiti^ vi^hich 
D 



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3S SIIJE HARVFACrUIUE. TAMT 1* 

the. company contemplated raising. Many larse edifices 
were erected- at a great expense upon the spot, the remains 
of which are at present scarcely disceftiibk. Mr. Henry 
Bariiam, who probably was a member of this company, pub- 
lished at this time an essay on the silkworm, wherein he la- 
bored to prove that all objections an^ difficulties raised a^^ainst 
the prosecution of what he calls ** this glorious undertaking^ 
were mere phantoms. The event, however, proved him to 
be wrbng ; and showed that difficulties did exist of an insur- 
mountable descripti<m : ^r although it was confidently pre 
dieted that in the ensuing year a considerable quantity of 
raw silk would be produced, the expectation was disappoint- 
ed, and the company soon sunk into oblivion. , ^ 

This undertaking had arisen among the crowd of specula- 
tlcms conceived at mat period, which produced such disastrous 
results; projects, whether rational or chimerical, which were 
all alike eagerly embraced b^ the^^is^nsate multitude. The, 
dreadful revulsion which folloi^ed may account for the rapid 
extinction of a scheme, the projectors oi which had coik> 
templated such splendid advantages. 

In the earliest in&ncy o£ the settlement of troorg^ in the 
year 1732, a piece of ground, belonging to government, was^ 
allotted as a nursery plantation fcft white mulberry trees, and 
the attention of some of the settlers was soon engaged in 
rearing silkworms. This branch of industry graduafly, di* 
though slowly, increased, both in Georgia and South Carolina; 
and it appearing desirable to. government that this country 
should be enabled to draw supplies from its colonies, rather 
than be dependent upon foreign states for a material c^ con- 
tinually growing importance to its manu^tures, an act of 
parliament was passed in 1749 for eucoura^ng the growth 
of colonial silk ; tinder the provisions of which, all tluit was 
certified to be the production of Greorgia and Carolina was 
exempted from the payment of duty on importation into the 
port of London. Encouraged by the increasin^^ growth of 
raw silk in these colonies, which induced a belief &&t hy the 
ttdq»tion of more judicious plans an abundant supply might be 
drawn fi-om them, sufficient to answer all the demands of our 
manufactures, a bounty was offered for the production of silk, 
and an Italian gentleman, named Ortolengi, was engaged, at 
a suitable salary, to proceed to Georgia and instmet tne ccd* 
onists in the Italian mode of management Although, for a 
time, hopes were entertained that the Georgians might find in 
this pursuit a valuable branch of indust^;. yet, in conse- 
quence of one or two unfavorable seascHis, and still mor9 from 



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CHAP. Ill* HISTOtlY OF SILK« 39 

the quality erf* the sUk proving very indiflbrent, its culture 
soon began to declme, and the lessening of the bounty be- 
came a signal fyr its abatidonment by the planters. A smaU < 
ffuantity was still raised by the poorest of the peasantry ; but 
fefbre the close of the eighteenth century the production of 
eilk was wholly discontinued in Georgia. 

There is no doubt that the cultivation of the^ cotton plant» 
which in the mean time had been introduced, proved so ad- 
vantageous to the i^anters in Georgia, as to render a further 
prosecutioQ of the precarious and less profitable silk product 
distastefol. 

' The rearing of silkworms had been an object of interest in 
Carolina so early as the year 1732. This branch df industry 
was undertaken principally by the small farmers, many of 
whom prodneed mxn forty to fifty pounds' Weight of silk in 
the season. The endeaven to increase and p^ect its pro- 
duction in this colony were kmg persevered in. In liie year 
1771, Louis de St I^erre made a representation to govern- 
ment, that at the expense of bis whole fc»tune he had brought 
to perfection the art of making wine and the ptpduction of 
sflk at New Bourdeaux. His specimens of wine and sill^ 
which were transmitted to this country, were thought deserv- 
ing of notice by the patriotic Societjr for the Encouragemeitt 
of Alts, which testified its approbation of M. Saint Pien^'s 
exertions by presenting him with their gold medal, accom- 
innied with a premium of fifty pounda Notwithstanding 
this sdmulus to further eWorta, the quantities afterwards 
raised were small, and the cost of poduction proved too 
gi^t for successful compietition with silk of other countries. 
The truly usefiil society just tnentioned persevered for a 
series of years in oflTering: rewards for the production of silk 
in Great Britain and her colonies, and discontinued this en- 
couraffement only when all hope of accomplishing what ap- 
peanSi so desirable an object had ceased. The society has 
repeatedlv brought into notice, and fostered, both by pecuniary 
gifts and honorary distinctions, various improvements suggest- 
ed by laboring silk-weavers, who^ but for its assistance, would 
have wanted the means of embodying and realizing their con- 
ceptions. Descriptions of several of these improvements will 
be found in this volume. 

Many parts of the southern ^tes of America appear to be 
as well adapted for the cultivation of mulberry trees and the 
rearing of silkworms as the European countries in which 
they are alrcMidv successfully produced. It is said that the 
principal difllcutty with which the Americaos had to i^(^tend 



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40 6IIJL MANVFAOTVRK. PAST I. 

In peodneiiisr silk m these southeni cc^nies arose <mt <^ the 
circomatances of the laboriog oopulatitn, which then con- 
■isted of nsfro slaves, who c<mld not he made eufficiently at^ 
tentive and skilM in the management <^ the business. ^This 
opinion receives confirmation ntrni the ^t, that the same 
pursuit proved, at one time, not only practicable but profitaUe 
m Ck>nnecticut, where land was comparatively high rented, 
but where careful and intelligent white khorers might be 
procured. 

A project was ftrmed many years back to extend the cul- 
ture of the white mulberry tree over all the states of the 
American union, and a coasidenible nus^er wtm planted in 
consequence, in the year 1789 a very extensive nursery of 
these treep was established near Philadelphia; another at 
Princetown, in New-Jersey; one at New-York, and a fourth 
kk Long Island. The states considered it politic to establish 
these nurseries, with the idea that in the then unsettled state 
of Europe, emigrants from the silk countries might be al- 
lured to a place where provision was already made for ena- 
Uing them to pursue their accustomed employment This 
expectation does not aj^pear in any case to have been realized.* 

Establishments for producing both raw and wrought silk 
have long flourished in the settlements oi British India, where 
proximity to the country of its original production, the fitness 
of the climate, and, above all, the cheajmess of labor, have 
contributed to insure complete success. The idand of Cq»> 
nmbiizar and its neighborhood, m the province of Bengal^ are 
particularly fiivOTaUe to the labors of the silkworm. Since 
the year 1760 the qlumt^ of raw silk produced in the terri- 
tories of the East India .Company has been very, extensively 
increased, and an equal advance has been made in the im- 
prevem^fit of its quality. 

There are eight principal silk filatures or fibctories belong- 
ing to the company in Bengal. In every filature are employed, 
according to its size, from 3000 to 10,000 people ; and if to 
these are added the mulberry planters, worm-feeders, &c., the 
number dependent on each establishment may be stated at 
firom 10,000 to 40,000 men. women, and children. 

Attempts have been maae to introduce the silkworm into 
other parts of the company's possesions, eq)ecially on the 
coast of Coromandel. Dr. James Anderson, who was par- 
ticularly zealous in promoting this among other uaefiil under- 
takings, introduced mulberry trees at Madras, about the year 

• ♦NoteK. 



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CHAT. III. HISTOBY OP SIUC. • 41 , 

1770; and, finding that they grew luxuriantly, endeavwed 
to procure eilkworraa' eggs irom Bengal. His first aiid second 
attempts &iled; but the third, which, with laudable per- 
severance he made in the year 1789, succeeded perfectly ; 
and the advantages likely to accrue from the production of 
silk soon encaged several persons on difiTereat parts of tiie 
coast in breeding the worms. In a letter addressed by him to 
Sir Jose]^ Banks, dated 26th January, 1792, Br. Anderson 
says, ^I have received- accounts of the success of the ^k- 
woro2s at Palamcotta and Masulipatam; as well as of the re* 
coverp^ of those that had been deceased in the late rains at 
Triciunopoly ; so that a breed of this insect is already estab- 
lished in an extent of 600 miles upcoi the coast'* In a fiiture 
chapter the increanng importance of this branch of Indian 
commerce will be shown. 

The production of si^k has always been deemed an object 
worthy to engage the attention of those European sovereigns 
who take much interest in the wel&re of their subjects. The 
dissimilitude of their own climates to that of the .native coun- 
try of the sUkworm has not deterred these potentates firom 
making the attempt - Peter the Great of Russia, so inde- 
&ti|^[aue in his endeav(»rs to raise his country in the scale of 
nations, did not neglect any efforts to obtain for it this d^ira- 
ble object, and caused several mulbeny plantations to be 
formed and carefiiUy cultivated in many parts of his wide do* 
minions. These have flourished even ao fiir north as 54^ of 
latitude. 

The attempt to rear silkworms in the Rusoan dominions 
was begun under the auspices of the empress Catherine, who 
partook of the desire to promote the production of silk in her 
empire. For this purpose, she placed a colony upon an island 
called Aehtouba, situated in the Volga, where a plantation of 
mulberry trees alieady existed. The colony consisted of fimr 
hundred men, besides females. To these she OTimted exemp- 
tion for ten years from all imposts ; after which term they 
were allowed to pay their capitation tax and other imposts in 
silk, taken at the value of ten roubles per pound. 

Mr. Sieirers, by employing the most carefy and judicious 
management, reared silkworms suceessfiilly at Bauenhoff in 
Livonia, at the latter end of the last eentuiy. In a letter 
written by him to a scientifie gentleman in England, Mr. 
Sievers relates, that st Kiovia, a poor tailor, a native of Upper 
Wesia, living m a house opposite to one of the mulberry gar- 
dens planted li^ Peter the Great, was induced to solace his 
kknire hours as well as i/9 add to the scanty profits of his 
D2 



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^42 8«LK MANITPACTURB. JAMT I. 

caMlfiff by the Fearing <^ Mlkwawns. In 1797, the third year 
after 3ie commencement of his labwa, he delivered twenty 
■ five pounds of silk to the director of the imperial gaidenB, who, 
by order of the empr^ paid him for it at the rate of t^i 
jxsublqs per pomid. The poor man expected that the year 
ensuing woiid increase his produce one fifth part 
* The first rtend that was attached to the decoiation of the 
military order of St George, was manu&ctured out of the 
produce rec^v^ from the Achtooba colony; and, althou^ 
coarse both in its texture and material, the empress averred 
with a sm^, that aever in her estimation hs^ ^ worn finer 
silk. Establishiiients are now re^larly formed in Russia §br 
manufacturing ^k of native production ; and the inhabitai^ 
&itter themselves with tiie expectation that in a few yean 
they shall become independent of Persia for the «i]^y cf this 
material. 

It is said, that the rearing of silkworms has been success 
fiilly followed i]i Bavaria and other parts of Grermany. The 
French Protestant refugees carried the art to BrandeBborg, 
where they settled, under the protection of the grand electcnr 
Frederic- William; iEit the end of the seventeenth cmitary. 
Mayet, who wrote a book expressly upon the culture of siUc 
in &iB Pmsnan dominions, relates, that in the year 1790, the 
baron de Heintz, Prussian minister of state, cultivated the 
mulberry, and ^iroduced silk upon his estate which was ac- 
]aiowle4ged to be equal to the finest product of the Miknesa 

A short time before the English obtained possession of the 
fides QfP France and Bourbon, the French government at- 
tempted to introduce the rearing of silkworms in those 
Brands; evmcing thus a ispirit very difierent from that which 
has usually governed the policy of countries towards their 
colonial dependencies. These have be^i too often considered 
as only outlets for superabundant productions, and sometimes 
even nave been debarred from growing articles of use, fiar 
which nature has peculiarly fitted their climates, in order 
that the parent state may supply them at a dearer rate for its 
own undue advantage. In the ease just mentioned, the gor<* 
emment of France granted a sum of money to create rivals 
to its own silk growers, and sent out agents jHoperly qualified 
to carry the plan into effect The loss of their cdonies ne- 
cessarily rendered these attempts abortive. That the idtea 
* was in itself well founded, appears fi*6m the success whibh 
accompanied a similar attempt afterwards made in c»e<^ 
those colonies. When Sir Robert Farquhar was a{ipoiat0d 
ipovemor cf die Mauritius, he procured sukworms' egg« frow 



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CHAP. iti. HtsrrotiY OP %TSM. ' 43 

Bengal, and intrusted thein td th^ manageiB^frCf of M. QuixaL 
lilts was at the latter end oi the year 181&. la the month of 
March foUowmg, about 80,000 cocoons had already been ob* 
tained, more than a fourth part of which was reserved to pro** 
duce a brood for the fi^lowing season. 

Although M. Qhazal had meanwhile distrftuted silkwomMi 
to many of the cokmists, yet what he reserved and reared 
himself yielded, in 1817, more than 200 pouiids* wioight 6t 
silk, of which ctfie bale, weighing 116 pounds, was conveyed 
to England in the following year. A i^)ecimen of 4A^ was 
presented to the Society, for the Encotiragement of Arts, from 
which M. Cha^ claimed the premiata which it oi^Ved finr 
the growth of silk in British cokmies. l^e absenee of o^lcial 
doemnetits, and the time neeesiarcly Gonsiamed in detaining 
these fh)m so distant a possessicHi, together with some other 
circumstances not important to be motioned, caused coDsid^ 
erable delay in the adjudication of his claim ; but the reqa^ 
site documents having then arrived, the society, in the yeif 
1824, awarded to M. Chazal their large goM medal. The 
silk, which was carefully examined 1^ some of the most 
eminent brokers in London, was said to be of tolerably geod 
quality. " • 

A few ^ears ago, the Swedes attempted to rear the temdei 
silkworm in their inhospitable climate, and with some appear- 
ance of success. In the Stockkohne Jimmall fbr March, 1824, 
an interesting notice of the object is to be found.. Af);^ 
enumerating the motives which first' instigated the Swedes to 
encourage tiie growth of silk in their country, the statement 
thus continues :— ^ The idea, indeed, is not new ; and ex- 
periments made long ago presented encQuraging results^ 
thoagh it i^pears that, until the present moment, the attempt 
has never been seriously made. Experiments inistituted during 
the last year (1829) in Stockholi^i, for the purpose of diseov^ 
ering some indigenous tt^e capable of nourishmg the silk- 
worm, have procured silk of very fine quality. The culture 
of the mulb^ry tree is extending itself in the provinces ; and 
important communications on the most oonv^iient mode of 
teirmt the worm have been generally promulgated. The silk 
so promieed in Sweden has confirmed in the ami^est manner 
1^ remai^k formerly made on the superior fineness and solidi- 
ty ijt silk grown in the north, compiled with that from mom 
temperate climes; a fbct that has received the muooffliioussalMie 
tioB of the members of the Royal Society of Commerce, tm 
w^ as of many silk nmnulactufers. It simpoftB the ofdihary 
prepajwdon and dye equally with the best Indiaft v^ y> »— 



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44 felUL MAJnTFACTURB. PAltT I. 

iafr the same bnllumcY and the same softness. The nlk also 
that has been grown m the last few years in Bavaria is. supe- 
rior to that produced in Italy." 

Another attempt for the production of silk in the British 
dominions was made at the commencemei^ of 182&» a period 
when tiie rage for new commercial projects was scarcely lesi 
violent, orits eventual revulsion less disastroqs, than they 
were during and following the memorable speculationa of 
1716. The eompany which was formed for the purpose just 
mentioaed was incwporated under the title of ^ The ^itish, 
Irkdi, and Colonial Silk Company." This undertaking was 
supported bv characters of the highest rank and respectabili- 
ty, many or whom were induced to give their countenance 
to the project by a patriotic desire to ameliorate the condition 
of tibe Irish peasantry, by adding to their profitable sources 
of industry. The undertaking smwild by no means be ranked 
among speculative and delusive schemes, raised for purposes 
of evanescent profit to their projectors, and with little reftr- 
enoe, to ultimate consequences. A royal charter was obtained, 
and active measures were taken to promote the success oTllie 
design. A spot of ground, of about eighty acres, was seleeted, 
cm the estate of the earl of Kingston, near Michelstown. m 
the county of Cork, and in this place neurly 400,000 trees <d 
the white mulberry were transplanted. The whole proved 
unusually snccessfiil, very, few trees having died, and many 
haying in the first yesi of their transplantation put forth shoots 
twenty inches in lengtL A small but complete building for 
rearing silkworms was itdapted on the plan of coqnt Dandolo, 
and every thing seemed tp promise that success which should 
attend judicious plans and well-directed energy. The experi- 
ment was also repeated on a more limited scale in England 
between 70,000 and 80,000 mulberry trees were planted on 
nineteen acres of fine rich soil situated near Slough* The 
trees Nourished here as well as in Ireland ; but the attempt to 
rear silkworms m the United Kingdcmi haa been ultimately 
abandoned by this company. Its managers now turn the whole 
of their attention to an establishment in the island of Malta. 
This has hitherto been attended with success, and promises 
advantageous results to the proprietors of the company. 

The cultiva|k)n of cotton, wmch had formerly bc^en pursued 
at Midta, was checked by the increased production of Egypt, 
and the numerous pofinilation of that island was consequent- 
ly reduced to great distress ; this new enterprise, therefore, 
Whieh ofi^red to the Maltese a pKwpect of again turning their 
indnstry into a profitable channel, was healed by them with 



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CHAP. III. RI8T0EY OF SILK. 45 

enthusiasm. The nature of the climate, joined to other local 
advantages^ plromise a favorable result to the endeavors of the 
ccmipany on this island. The growth of tiie mulberry tree in 
Malta, where attention, has been paid to its cultivation, is said 
to be more rapid .by at Least one third ^an in Itoly. 

The recent experience of this company Jeads to the con- 
ch»ion,t)Mtif our moist 4ind variable climate do not in itself 
o^r a sufficient obstacle to the success of attempts at rearing 
the silkworm, there would irtill remain another objection, 
which, though fiital to such iffi undertaking, caimot on any 
account be deplored, namely, the hi^h price of labor. -Siikr^ 
quires so much care and attention for its production, and so 
great a number of persons must be employed in an establish- 
ment for rearing silkworms, that it is only in countries where 
the number of &e poorer class is great in proportion to capital,/ 
and where, consequently, labor must be extremely cheap, that 
the silkworm can be reared at an expense which ofiers suc- 
cessfiilly to compete with other regiona Even then the su- 
perioar Msill and knowledge c^ people to whom the silkworm 
has kmg been an object (» attention will always insure them 
a s^penority over novices in (he art *I1iis was one cause of 
Actlufe M Ireland. Unha^^ily, Idbor is not much better paid 
there than in Italy ; but the ignorance and Awkwardness of 
the Iri^ peasantry, in bestowing the necessary attentions 
upon the silkworms, an avocation totally difibring from any 
to which they had previously been accustomed, eiforded suffi- 
cient reason for rendering their em][dd3rment unprofitable to 
tfte growers. • 

In the year 1826, some sOkWorms* eggs were sent 'to 'the 
island of St. Helena, that the production of silk might be at- 
tempted on that isolated spot It is said'that mulberry trees 
mre alrea^ flourishing there, and that success may be ex- 
pected to rollow the experiment 

For a very long period silkworms have been reared in Eng- 
land as objects of curio^ty or amusement; and almost every 
schoolboy can testify the success which has attended his cares 
in tending them. There is, indeed, no doubt, that witji an 
equal degree of attention silk may be produced in England 
as well as in other countries, situated in an equally high 
latitude ; but the high price of labor will always prevent 
its culture bec<Hning a source of profit to the producer in 
England. \ 

Although the great' increase of our manufactures, and the^ 
importance oT our trade in and consumption of silk, are fuUy 
shown in another chapter, yet the history of silk cahnot per- 




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46 ttLK MANUFACTITSK. PAST I. 

haps be better concluded than by drawing the reader*e atten- 
tion to the enormous quantity of this material used in Eng- 
land alone, amounting in each year to more than four millions 
^ pounds' weight Fourteen thousand millions of animated 
creatures annually live and die to supply this little com«r of 
the world with an article of luxury ! if astonishment be ex- 
cited at this fiust, let us extend our view into China, and ma- 
iFey the dense pc^Milatioa of its widely-q[>read region, wbb, 
fhiak the emperor on his throne to the p^want in the lowfy 
hut, are indebted lor their clothing to tke Ubors of the silk- 
worm. 



CHAP. ly. 

ntADB OF fOEKION OOUinUIEB IN MLK. 

ChiiMt Fnmc%^ It^> Sicily, Turkey, Switieriand, Pnuwia, RumU. 

Thb preceding chapteni have shown the times and naodes 
in which silk was first introduced into dififerent stales and 
kingdoms. It is now proposed to give a brief sketch of the 
I^r^sent condition of the trade and mana&etiire in some prin- 
cipal fi>reign countries. 

Chiiit is- still as j^roductive of silk as in more remote times : 
it ccmtinues to form one of the principal internal trades of 
I the empire, furnishing employment to a greater number of 
individuals than any other occupation. »ir George Staun- 
I ton tells us, that women only lure empk^ed in Han-choo- 
' foo in the fiibrication of .flowered and embroidered satins^ 
as well as other varieties <^ the finer tissues* and that a 
vast number of workwomen are thus engaged in very exten- 
sive fitctories.* 

The silkworm is reared in China, fyr the purposes of mami- 
factures, south ef the Yellow River, but not far beyond it ; the 
roost southern parts of the empire hsing unfiivcwable to ita 
growth. Silk is produced m the greatest quanti^ in the 
neighborhood of Nan-kin, in about the thir^-second degree 
of north latitude. 

The Chinese &culty of imitation continues ts be success- 
fully exercised in the manufiicture of silks : of this the Ameri- 
can n^erchants are accustomed to avail themselves profitaiily, 

* StsuDton't Embaaty, vol. ii, p, 43S. 



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CHAP. IT. IN FBANCE. 47 

sending French patterns to China, whieii ore there copied with 
an exactness which makes these imitations, in evef^ respect 
save one, quite eqoal to the original falrrics: Bemg great 
economists, the Chinese are more sparing in the use m their 
uMiterials, and the weight of tbe goods is perhaps <me SRh less 
than that of the French : the latter, indeed, are ccmsidered to 
he onnecessarily prodigal o€ their material ; and the Chinese 
imitations present more than an equiTalent advantage, hemg 
obtained at ftr less cost than the French fitbrics. 

Enrland iinports a vast amount of both raw and wrooght 
nlks Rom China. The latter description is included in the 
official custom-house retumswtth Indian goods, on which ac- 
count its quantity cannot be accurately stat^. The imports- 
tioQ <^ raw silk from China in the course of the year 1820 
amounted to 600,000 pounds* weight 
^ ■ 

The growth of silk in France is still confined exclusiv^ 
to its southern provinces. Lyons^ which is the greatest siu: 
manniacturing city of France, furm^es ver^ few silks of its 
own nowth : it is, however, the ^reat emporium whence ^ 
meichants of Paris and other cities obtun supplies ; as all 
nlks brought from other places, either by land or sea, are 
obliged at least to pass through Lyons. In the year 1540^ 
Francis I. granted io this city the privilege of being an ex- 
clusive de]^t. Which was continued by various rojpul ordinan- 
ces down to 1717. The rate oCAutj was altered 1^ almost all 
these ordinances ; but no documents are to be fonnd whereby 
to ascertain what effect any oTthedifl^ent'chan^es produced 
npon the silk trade or manu&cture. 

For a short period (from 1730 to 1722) the privilege of m*- 
port and deposit was extended also to Dimkiric; but m the lat- 
t^ year it was agtun confined to Lyons, with the additional 
r^^ation, tluit no' foreten silk diould be imported into France 
by any other port than Marseilles, or by land except bv the 
bridge. Beauvoisin. This ordinance also decreed, that all silk 
grown in France should be sent to Lyons fbr sale, where it 
was subjected to a duty of three and a half sols per pound, 
while silk of foreign nowth was burdened with the heavier 
snpost of fourteen sols per pound. The regnlaticms which 
thus fiivored Lyons at ihe expense of every other part ot the 
Frendi kingdom weire not adc^vted with tiie view of obtaining 
revenue- for tiie state, but with the single object of benefit- 
ing that one city. The amount received in duties was ap- 
profRiated towards the payment of its municipal debts, which 
would appear to have been, somewhat ccmsiderable, «i the 



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48 SILK XANUFAOTVRE. PA9T I. 

privile^ was continued down to the period of the Frendi 
revelation. 

When Lyons was in its most floorishin^ state, it was com- 
puted tiiat, on an avei^e number of years, 6000 bales of silk, 
each weighing 160 pounds, passed through the ci^ annually. 
Of these 1400 bales came from the Levant, 1600 from Siciiy, 
1500 from Italy, 800 from Spain, and 1200 from LaB§ruedoc 
Provence, and Dauphine. In the zenith of its former prosperi- 
ty it had been reckoned, that Lyons employed .18,000 loons 
in idlk manufacturea But the disastrous effects of the revo- 
cation of the edict of Nantes in 1685 gave a serious Mow to 
thk prosperity ; and in the year 1698 the number of loons 
amounted only to 4000. This mahu&cture afterwaids revived, 
mnd a sreat part of Europe long drew suites of Inrocade aod 
rich sUKs from Lyon& 

The dec^ of the manu^ture at Tours was not leas re- 
markaUe. This ci^, before the revocation, could boast etf pos- 
sessing 800 miUs K>r winding and preparing silk, and 8000 
looms for weaving it; while 40,000 persons were employed 
in the manufitcture : 3000 looms were then at work in tha 
manufacture of ribands alone. But soon after the period meah 
tbned. Tours employed only 70 mjlls, 1200 looms, and about 
4000 workmen ; whUe the consumption of silk, which in &e 
time of its prosperity had amount^ to 2400 bales of 160 to 
200 pounds^ weight each, had decreased to 700 or 800 balesi 

The revolution, of necessity, caused much alteration in tJbe 
jreneral state of monufkctures in France ; but Lyons, althou^ 
Its exclusive privileges were withdrawn, remamed, and still 
contipues to4)e, the principal seat of the silk manufbjcture. At 
a very early period, this eity had acquired celebrity for the 
brilliancy of its dyes, which were used, not only for its own 
manu&ctures, but also for those of Paris and Tours. So mocb 
jealousy did the g^overnment evince of retaining this superi- 
^ityi that it prohibited the exportation of dyed silk, lest other 
countries should imitate and rival the beauty of French otymu- 
fiustured goods : a senseless prohibition, which oUiged the silk 
merchants of France to forego a present advanti^e, lest at 
some future :period it might possibly escape from thera. 

At the period when Savary wrote, it is stated that Htm 
manu&cture of ribands had very, much retrograde in France. 
Those made in F^aris were considered as the best; but con- 
siderable quantities of ,an inferior quality were manu&ctnre4 
at Chaumont and St.. Etienne. Engli^ ribands, which were 
then admitted into use in France, subject to a duty of four 
livres per pou^d, were greatly preferred by the Parisiaoi to 



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CBAF. IV. IN FRAICCE. 49 

tboie of their own make, and we consequently eajof^ a odd- 
aul«rable tTade in them until ^ year 1701, when tne import* 
ation of foreufn silk goodl into France was whdly prohibited. 

The first names used in France for weaving silk stockings 
were introduceii into Paris, from England, m 1656. This 
, mano&cture spread so rapid]^, tfaatt in nxteen years fh)m that 
time the stocking weavers were conndered <^ suffici^t im- 
portance to he incorporated by rojral (urdinaiice, which at the 
same time indicated the kinds of sHk that it was permitted 
the manufiicturers to use in their ccmstruclion. Various mr^ 
were issued by successive monardis to rebate thj(i branch 
of industry: firom these it appears, that extensive stocking 
mantiActories were estabtished in nimierous towns, to wfaic^ 
in the usual meddling spirit of the government, they were 
restricted in the year 1700. The stocking mannfkcture no 
kmger eadsto in the greater part of thosetowns, but is prin* 
cipally carried on in the Cevennes. 

It IS stated, in the ''Commerce du 19«« l^cle,*' that be- 
tween the years 1668 and 1741 France annually exported to 
England manufactured silks to the amount of 12^ millibns of 
francs. In 1765 the E^lis^ government commenced its sys- 
tem of prohibition against the introducti<m of ibreign silk 
goods ; and to this circumstance it must, peihaps; be ascribed, 
that in the year 1784 the expcniation of wrought silks from 
France to all countries amounted in value to only 25,600,000 
ftancs. In 1789 it had increased to 29,745,000 francs. 

Immediately after this, and during- the early years of the 
revolutionary war, the quantity fell off very much; but after 
a time the trade somewhat revived, . , 

In 1801 the value of exported wrou^ silk was 99,314,000 
francs; in 1820 this had increased to 123,063,000 fhmesf in 
1821 it was 111,689,000 francs; in 1^2, 99,0^000 fhmcs; 
and in 1823, 84,302,000 francs. 

In 1786 Lyons employed 15,000 looms; -the ferment of the 
incipient revohidon reduced this number in the year 1780 
one half; when there were 12,700 workmen emjdoyed. The 
state ci the manu&cture cannot be well ascertained during 
the GQuvulsions of the revoluticm ; but itis known that among 
ike efiects of that dreadful event, the number of silk kxxns 
was reduced, that in the year 1800 they amounted to nO 
more tfian3500^employmg<mly 5800 artisans hi the manu- 
ftctnre. After that time toe trade greatly revived. In 1812 
it employed 10,720 looms, and 15;506 workmen. In 1^4 die 
silk locma of Lyons were said to amount to 24,000, employ- 
ing 86,000 men« A Lyons newspaper ci 1825 gives the 

E 



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60 8ILK HAmrFAGTUBB. PART !• 

exact nmnberof fitctories in that y ear as beioff 8698, and the 
number of looms 20,101. Since that pcnriod both are said to 
be diminished. One <^ the causes of this diminution is, per- 
haps, to be found in the dispersion of looms among the villi^^es 
comprised within a circle of ten or fifteen leagues roofld 
Lyons; provisions,. and consequently labor, being cheaper ia 
these places than in the city. 

Foreign competition, and acme inauspicious measures of in- 
ternal policy, have also produced fluctuation in this manuftn- 
ture ; and we learn firom the I^ons newspapers, as well as 
flrom other sources, that much misery has prevailed at intOT- 
vals in that once flourishing city. In the beginnmg (^ 1839^ 
the operative silk-weavers of Lyons were in so great dlstre» 
that a public subscription was raised for their relie£ At the 
meeting Convened for this purpose it was stated, that, o€ 22,000 
looms existing in the city and its immediate nei^borhood, 
not more than one third were in use, wbiie the wages of 
those artisans who could obtain employment had, as a neces- 
saiy consequence, fidlen very considerably. 

France produced in 1812, accordm^ to good authciity. 
067,000 pounds* weight of raw sUk, and imported a like quan- 
tity. The average annual consumption of the country for the 
years 1822 and 1823, was estimated at 1,600,000 pounds. 

During the last sixteen years great e^rts have been made 
to increase the cultivation of the mulberry and the production 
of silk in I^rance. It is believed that, in consequence, the 
annual produce has, since the year 1814, been increased one 
third. A merchant of Lyoaa states, that foreign silk does not 
form more than one ten& or one eighth of the whole quantity 
BOW used inr the French manufactories : thirty years ago one 
half was foreign. 'Np very authentic information can, indeed, 
be obtained on this point. The want of even approximative 
notions respecting the growth of silk in France cannot be 
better exemplified than by conlrastmg statements flimid^ied 
by those who profess to have good information on the subject 
In "Le Commerce du 19*n« Siecle," the annual produce ef 
1823 is stated to amount in value to 15^ millions of francft 
Estimating the average value per pound at 22 ftaacs^ the 
quantity produced is found rather to exceed 700,000 pouiids^^ 
and in the ** Annals of Agriculture,'' published in ]i828; the* 
produce of raw silk is estimated to be of the value of 60 mil^ | 
lions of francs, and in wei^t rath^ more than 2,700,000^^ 
the price per pound be equally reckoned at 22 franes. 

No information of a more accurate deseriptien can be ac* 



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CHAP.it. in tTALY. 61 

quhred cooceTmng the Quantity of silk ffoods whioh form part 
of the external trade or the country. TWb cannot be ascer- 
tained even by reference to the French custom-fiouse reports, 
as, when a declaration is made, which is dot always the case, 
the declared m usually in the proporticm ci from a half to two 
thirds of the real value. The gp-eater part is exported with- 
out any declaration of value ; and, in particular, the quantity 
of ^[ooas smuggled into otirer oouAbnes is never noticed in 
theur custom-house reports. 

France prohibits the exportatimi of its raw silk ; the reason 
asBigned lor which restriction is, that the country does not 
TOXMUce a supply sufficient for its own manufactories. It is 
difficult to see lu>w France can pos^bly benefit by this pro- 
hibition, so long as the markets of Italy are open to her mer- 
chants, and foreign silk is continually passing throu^ )ier 
territories for. the supply of other country The raw nlk 
which we receive frcxn France is the produce of Italy, merely 
passing through the hands of French commission agents in 
Its transit between the countries. In thiswi^ England is 
supplied with a large proportion <^ the raw silk which is im^ 
|N»ted from foreign European nations. 

It is the policy adopted by some Italian stipes to prohibit 
die expo^tion df their raw silk. England is in oons^nence 
obliged tbr obtain a great part of the -Italian silk which her 
mahu&cturers require, through France, into whose territonr 
it is smuggled. An intermediate -najtion thus reaps a yiroat 
which, but for these absurd restrictimis, WoUld' be acquired 
iiy the countr]^ of production. • • ^ *. 

It is impossible to conceive that these Itaiian governments 
ean remain ignorant of this &ct,' which is notorious to al) the 
world beside } and it is almost as difficult to imagine that they 
£an believe the interests of their subjects to be protect^, 1^ 
placing restraints upcm the exportation of their raw produce. 
Any CQHBtry which* {Ax>duces superabundantly, wcmld be 
plung^ into far greater distr^ by the Ipss of a mairket, than 
would be experienced by th^ people of other counties whom 
it was sought te deprive of tlwit superabundance These can 
generally obtiuh the object of their wishes elsewhere, knd, 
failing in this, may either find a jsubstitutis^ or discover that 
the privation is easily supportable, while the cultivator, who 
has produced the articles thus unprdltably left upon his hands, 
is plunged into real and serious misery. When may We hope . 
to see princes take a higher mdral Ipsound of action, and 



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63 SILK MANUFACTUSB. 9A]i(T U 

pcommff to coimive secretly ftt sets which they opeaify po' 
&SS to oiseounteiisiice?* 

The ni,w silk imported direct from Italy into England ccmies 
ftom the ports of Nice, Genoa, and Leghorn, llie quaatitv 
thus qbtamed does not e^ual that which is brought through 
France. A great quantity of raw and thrown silk is, how- 
ever, annually expcotod firom Italy into various other countries. 

The aver^ annual amount, computed firom the four yeais 
between 1807 and 1810 inclusive, was eoual to the value of 
9lf407,81O Milan livres, or about two and a half millions of 
pounds sterling. The exportation consisted principally of 
organzine, or mxown silk, that is^ silk twisted, or ** throwny" 
in the mil} in readiness for weaving. The aggre^te propor> 
tion of every other descrmtion of silk was very mconsider^- 
Ue. M<Mre.tiian three millions of poundsf of organzine were 
exported in each of the years 1806 and 1807. 

. Sicily, into which island the silk manufiicture was intro- 
duced at so early a period, still ccmtinues to derive much ad- 
vantage from this branch of industry, which is considered ae 
the second great source of riches to that island, the trpde in 
com rviking as the first 

In all ages since its first establiftoent, the rulers of tet 
eoontry ^>pear to have encouraged this manufiu:ture amoo^ 
its people. . In 1752, the king 3t Naples estaUidied and in- 
verted with *many.privileges a commercial company at Mes- 
■iiia, for erecting manufactories of silks, stnfii, and camblete. 

It is ccMBputed that, on an average of years, a quantity of 
silk equi^ 4n value to a fniUion of cmcats (187,500/.) is anna- 
ally exported fi-om the islaqd. 

.Palermo emiploys 900 lo6m8 ; its exports, however, are very 
inognificant, most of its dlk being woven for lumie use. 
There are 1200 looms at Messina, and rather more at Catania. 
A variety of fabrics is made in the Messinese footsies ; bat 
the material is seldom well reeled, dyed, or ' sorted, and the 
work ifitnot well performed. Great ^rt of this is exported to 
the Levant Very^litde Sicflian ^Ik finds its Wky to Engw 
land : the length of its skein differs fmrn the general importr 
ations, which circumstance is found to be inconvenient to 
the, throwster, and the quality qf the filam^it is unsuit^ to 
the general purposes of .the manuftcturer. 

.♦NoteL. 
t About Mven of theap nounds are. equal to five pounds avoiidupoiau 



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CnAV. IV. IN TURKEY, PERSIA, AND SWITZERLAND. 53 

Turkey supplies England with a ccmsiderabie cfuantity of 
raw silk. Our imports from that country avera^ more th^ 
dOO»000 pounds' weight annually. It is brought to us from 
Aleppo, Tripoli, Sayda, &c. ; but Smyrna is the principal port 
c£ commerce, especially for the silk of Persia, which forms a 
great part of that which is imported from Turkey. The silks 
<^ Persia are brought to Smyrna in caravans duiing part of 
the year — ^from January to SejHember. The caravans dift> 
patched in January are* laden with the^nest silk, and th« 
quality is found to deteriorate with each following month. 
The silk of Persia comes chiefly from the provinces of Ghilan 
and Shirvan, and the city of Schaoiiachia, situated near the 
edge of the Caspian Sea. It is said that in some years no 
less than 30,000 bales of silk have been sent from these three 
places. The produce of Ghilan is the most abundant in 
quantity and the best in quality. Shirvan and Erivan rank 
next ; then Ma2anderan,*aud, lastly, Astrabad ; but the latter 
is so inferior as to be usually employed in forming fiibrics in- 
termixed with cotton. It is seldom or nev^r exported. The 
silk from these di^^rent plades is stored^ Ardevil or-Ardebil, 
another Persian city, whence caravans 'set out for Smyrna, 
Aleppo, Scanderoon,. and Ckmstantinople. 



The silk manufacture had of late years made such npid 
progress in Switzerland as considerably ta alarm the French 
manu&cturers. This advance is enthrelv. of recent date, vad 
has been caused by the political state of France. . 

When, in the year 1810, Napoleon 'made such strenuous 
hut vain efibrts to destroy the commerce of England, and pro- 
hibited so strictly the admission of 'foreign cotton goods mto * 
France, Uie inhabitants i^ttled about the lake of 2iUrich were 
extensively employed iii t|ie weaving of musluis. Losing by 
this prohibiUoft' their accu^tomod market, they transferred 
their lahora to the manufacture of ^k goods, as- the one for 
.whibh their ]»revioy8 habits besi fitted them. Their coaiee ct 
indvstty was in this wav changed with so much success and 
rapidity, that in a vei^ tew years they were able sbccessfttllr 
to compete with their nei^bors, in many branches of silk 
manaiaictare, in the Germom markets. When the Bouilxm. 
government was restored in France, the Swiss weavers were 
sdU further benefited by the injury brought on the French 
ftianufocturers throu^ the internal policy df their oovem- 
nent The religious persecutions of 1815, 181d» and 1817, 
induced a eonsiderable number of peraodB to emigrate from 
LfooM, carrying to Zurich their skill and indostry* ** ThB%** 
£2 



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S4 nLK MXXVWACfJfV^BM* fJOtJt 2. 

at a wnt^ in the Precuneur of Lyons remarks, **'9t tfaii 
9pach, as well as in that of 1793, ^braBgens profited and wave 
enriched hy.our hloody quarrels: an important lesson, £»• 
qnently given to governments, and but too often given in v&bi f* 
In 1814, Zurich and its environs contained not more thaa 
2000 looms. To so late a period as 1820, Germany was &^ 
tirely supi^ied by France with wrought silks; but since thftt 
period the quantities of silk goods of Swiss manu&cture 
poured into liie markets of Frank£>rt and Leipzig have be^i 
so abundant as- to interfere materially, with the sales of the 
French merchants. 

In the beginning of 1828, Zurich contained from 9000 to 
10,000 silk looms, and sofaie of its &ct6ries were considerable. 
Three of the largest of these gave employment to 2600 work- 
men, one of them alone maintaining 1204 artisans. 2^kh 
M one time confined its manufacture to Florentines, and Basle 
to ta£%tas; in both these towns all other kinds of nJk falnicsi 
wilJi the exie^ion of crape and satin, are now made ; ai^ in 
Baale the manufacture of ribands is become very considerable. 
At Beme, silk for umlnrellas is manufkctured on so extensive 
, a scale as to supply 'Germany and the nc»rth of Europe with 
this article of constant' consumption. At Schaffhauaen and 
St Gall, only fine cotton goods used formerly to be manu- 
ftotured ; but such is the enceflragement offend ky^ the re- 
cent success of other cantons, that silk' manyiftf tijityh i^f9 
likewise been commenced in m(»9e places. . 

At OreVeh, in Prussia, are established very considerably 
^ ftetories of 'ribands and brqad velvets, which not only find ^ 
' very^eady market in Gerfnany and the north of Europe^ hg| 
are likewise extensively exported into America. 

The Russians are very active and enterprising in increai* 
mg and peifeeting the sdk manufactures of their own coun* 
tryj and have ahr^^ attained to great excellence m them* 
being inde&tigable m their endeavors to obtain ddlfiil arti> 
•ans. - An anecdote^ found in the Frecdrseur of tiie 25th of 
October^ 1828, showa the degree to whidh they have sue* 
<)eeded in these effi>rtSi A Russmn Wrchant, in the preceding 
year, vi^ted the warehouse of a ailk merchant at Leipzig, 
who had also a boose of business at Lyons. The Rusdaa 
merchant purchased a dozen ^pieces of french silk, and with 
these obtamed many patterns <^ various kinds of fitbrica 
WKOught in this matoriaL At the fiur ^ the following year, 
th» M tonis hmfflttt and mortillcatian of the Qmwm merobant 



^. " Digiti^by V^OOQlC ^ 



OBAF* Y. IN «N6XJkND. ' 6$ 

were not a little ei^ccited* ea finding his ex^purdnaer converted 
iato a competitor, and ofiering a complete asioirtment of silkea 
stufis manu&ctured at Novogorod, from the identicill patterns 
which he had himself unwittingly for^iidiedt 



CHAP. V. 



FBOOBESSMADB IN KNOIAND IN THE MANfJFAOllJBE OF AND 
TRADE IN SILK. 

Earliest Records of the Introduction of small Wares.— Of broad Silks- — 
Revocation of the Edict of Nantes.— Royal Lustring Company — Treaty 
of Utrecht.— Commercial Treaty with France.— Introduction of throw- 
ing Machiaery at Derby from Piedmont. — Distress of Weavers. — Their 
tumultuary Proceedings. — Prohibitory Laws. — Spitalfields Act. — Bengal 
Bilk. — Reduction of Duties.— Removal of Restrictions on foreign Import- 
^ ations. — Repeal of Spitalfields Acts.—Great extension of Silk Manufac- 
[^ ture.- Improvements,— Comparative amount of Trade.-:-Smuggling.— Cost 
s^ A,.* manufacturing in France and England.— Duties and Draw'backs. 

The earliest Iiistorical notice of the silk manufacture in 
Engk nd i^ contained in an act of parliament, passed in the . 
year Ibo'd '37 Edward III. cap. 5. and 6.), to restrict different 
artificers, merchants, and .shoplteepers to the manufacture of 
or trading in one particular idnd of goods, according U> their 
own choice, which they were required to make and declare 
by a certain day named^in the act, and in which extraordinary 
restriction espedial exception . ie made in &vor of female 
|)rewers, bakers, weavers, spinsters, and othei: women emr 
filo|red upon works in Wool, linen, or silk, in embroidery, &c. 
%it tdi^ manufacture must have been of little importance, 
food ajppeaiip to have made very slow progress, since in. the 
;¥ear 1454, near]/ a century later, a law was passed (38 Hen. 
yL cap. 5.) fojr.the j^otection of the silk women .of London 
Against the importation, for five years,, pf foreign articles, 
fBi^hich were epfiumerated and described as simili^r to thdee 
Sianu&ctured by them ; such articles ^eomprising only small 
war^ such as '*twined*ribands, chains, or glides." This 
pVohibition was further cohtinued and extended to the pro> 
tection of various other branches of native industry, in the 
year 14^ by an act, (3 Edward IV. cap. 4.), to continue in 
fixroe durinjg the kind's pleasure ; which act, enumerating dl 
the i0K>hibited articles, specifies '* laces, ribands, and fringes 
of iilk, silk twined, silk embroklefed, tires d'silk, parses, and 
girdles." 

We may further infer from this restrictioo, that the pith 



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56 BItK XANUFACTVUB. FAST L 

dnetidlm of the Lonion silk women did not then equal ii 
quality or m cheajmess the manuflK^tures sought to be ex- 
eluded. 

In the year -1482, tiie above-mentioned a^t being no loi^[er 
in force, the English makers, of silk goods were all thrc^ 
oat of employment ; and in* consideration of their ffreat dis- 
treas, th^ importation of all such goods was i»ohibited for 
four years fibm that time.. 

Twenty-two years later, an act of parliament (19 Hen. VII. 
cap. 21.) pn^bited the importation of '*^any manner of «lk 
wrought either by itself or with any other stuff, in ribandi^ 
laces, girdles, corses, and corses of tissqes or points," up^ 
pain of forfeiture of the same; and by the same act it was 
made lawful for any persons, as well foreigners as English, to 
import all other kinds of «ilk, as well as raw and un wrought 
■ilk, the above only excepted. 

From this it may be plainly infensed, that no^paanu&ctureof 
broad silks was" at that time practised ^ithin these kingdoutf ; 
and, indeed, lord Bacon, in his " History of King Henry Vn.,** 
'kK>te8 this circumstance. "It was cnly near the close of the 
reign of James I. that, uppn some encouragement afforded by 
that monarch to Mr. Burlamach, a merchant of London, isome 
silk 'throwsters, silk dyeris, and bit)ad weavers were brought 
irom the*contineiit of Europe, and a beginning was made m 
the manufacture, of raw silk into broad silk &wics, wbich has 
siAce become of so much profit and importance to the cocm- 
try, luid which' then increased so rapidly, that in the year 
1629 the 8ilk.throwster8 of London formed a bpdy of sufficient 
importance to be incorporated, under the style of **the master, 
wardens, assistants, and commonalty of dlk throwers.** 

The progress made in this branch of industry may be 
fiiiiher collected firom the terms of a proclamation, issaed in 
Ihe year 1«80, by kuig* Charles I.,. setting forth, "that the 
trade in silk within this realm, by the importation therec^ 
raw from foreign {nrts, and throwing, dyemg, and working 
the same into.manufiictures here at home, is much increeaeS 
within a few. fears past But a fraud in the dyeing thereof 
beinff lately discovered, bj adding to the weight of silk in titt 
dye bejrond a just proportion, by a false and ^ceitful mixture 
in the in£rredients uaed m dyeing, whereby also the silk if 
weakened and corrupted, and the color ^poade worse ; where- 
fore we strictly command, that nb silk dyer do hereafter nae 
any slip, alder-bark, fflings of iron, or other deceidbl matter^, 
in dyeing silk, either Uack or colored ; that no silk shall be 
dyed of any olh^ bkek but ^lanidi black, and not of the 



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CHAF. y* IN EN6LANI>« 67 

dye c^ed London Uack, or light weighty neither shall they 
dye a&y silk before the gum be &ir. boiled off $:oin the silk, 
beingraw." 

The same monarch, in the year 1638, issued directions* re- 
moving, in part, the prohibitions imposed by his former pro- 
clamation, and permitting such silk to be dyed upon the gum, 
commonly called hard-silk, as was proper for making. tufted 
taffetas, figured satins, fine slight ribands, and ferret ribands, 
both black and colored ; and as his. reason for this departure 
from his former directions stated, with. a degree of candor not 
always admitted into the edicts of princes, that be had now 
become better informed upon the subject- This order further 
directed, that no stuffs made of or mixed witk silk should be 
imported, if of a less breadth than a full half yard, nail, and 
half nail, on pain of forfeiture. 

It will be remarked that this rois^ided and unfortunate 
prince thus took upon himself to regulate, by, the authority of 
proclamations, matters which had previously been ordered by 
acts of parliament. In many of thete orders, the king was 
guided by his own impulses, or influenced* by the persuasions 
of others, rather than by any, sound or enlightened views of 
the nature of commerce; and he eildeavored to render the 
trade of the country subservient to his political and religioua 
designs, without reference to that freeoom which is essential- 
to the success of all commercial enterprise. In another proo 
lamatioB, issued by him for. the reforming of abuses which it 
was alleged had crept into practice in the manu&cture ai^ 
breadth of silks, the weavers* company were empowered ta 
admit into their commonalty a competent number of such pe/- 
00118, whether strangers or natives, as had exercised the trade 
of waving* for one year at least before the date of^ a .new 
c^faarter then recently granted to that contpany f provided Uie 
parties so admitted -should be conformable to t)^e laws of Uie 
realm, and to the conettitution of* the chui^h of England ; as 
though the &brics which they wrought were susceptible of 
CQBtamination if touched by hereticaThands! 

In the rejgn of his son these o^tteiis were brought, once. 
more under the mcnre constitutional control of legi^atiye en- 
actments. We learn from the preamble of. aii act pulsed in* 
the year 166X (13 and 14 Car. U., cap. 15.,) that the company 
of sUk ti^wsters ip. London then employed above 40,000 
men, women, and childsen ; and, Upon the. petition of that 
company, an enactment provided, that none should set up in 
that traae without serving an apprenticedhip of seven ywi^ 
and becfxi&ing free of the throwsters' company. * 



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58 BILK MAmrPACTtRE. Pa£RT U 

Many acts of parliainent'were from time to time, dann^ 
this reign, paBsed lor tHe regulation of the manu^cture ana 
importation of silk; but these acts were subject to continua} 
alterations or repeals, and seem to ha:ve had but little perma- 
nent influence. 

In the yepi 1685, ther revocs^tion of the edict of Nantes 
compelled many merchants, manufacturers, and artificers to 
fly fnnn France, ^he nuhibers- of these emigrants haire been 
variously stated by dif^rent Writers, at mnn 300,000 to 
1,000,000 persons. About 70,000 made their way to Eng- 
land and Iceland, with such property as the emergency of 
tiieir case allow^ them to carnr aw&y,' A large number of 
them, who had been enga^^ in the fabrication of silks, re- 
sorted to Spitalfields, contributing^ much, by their knowledge 
and skill, to the improvement <» the manu&cture in Eng- 
land. 'Hie silks called alamodes and lustrings were intro- 
duced by thems andVe are also indebted to them £>rour 
manu&ctures in brocades, satins,, black and colored mantuas, 
black paduasojrs, ducapes, watered tabbies, and black velvets, 
all of which fabrics* had 'previously been imported. 

Descendants 6f maiw of these refbgees still are found in 
the same spot, engaged in ihe same occupation. Th^ revo- 
cation of the edict of Nantes was attended with efl^ts bene- 
ficial to other countries, whibh those. who decreed that meas- 
nre had not the skill to foresee; A large'' popula^on, possess- 
ing knowl0dge and dexterity in the arts of life, were thus 
neattered over Europe, aijd intermingled with Uie less in- 
structed of other nauQ]l)s. The cultivation of arts^ and mano- 
fHiCtures was' thus stimulated, and'the geneiil ciViiizajLion <^ 
Europe accelerated. "^^ • 

The manufacture .of lustrings and alamode silks, then arti- 
cles in general. use, which, ppeViously to the settlement of 
ike French' refuge^ in Spitalfields, ha^ Been imported from 
France, was, in' the year 1^^ brought to a state of coni^- 
erable perfbctiou ; the persons enigaffed th^ein were thu 
year incorporated by-'cfiarter, under the. name of ** the royal 
lustring 'Q9mpany«'* and obtained jBrom parliament an' act, pro- 
jiibiting the importation of foreign lustrm^ and alamodes, 
alleging as the ground ft>r such a restriction in th^ir fiivor, 
that which, had it been well founded, should have made.them 
indifferent to all ^legislative interference — ^that^e manufHc* 
ture of .these articles iii England had now reached a greater 
^gree of perfection tiian wq^ attained by foreigners^ The 
anthor of a pamphlet, eiStitled " Angli«e Tutamen; or, the 
Safety of England,^ wtiUen^ 1605, with, the intention of 



)igitaedbyVq'OOQl^^ . 



mUk9, r. IN ENGLAND. 5^ 

discoantenaiiciiisf & great variety of jointHBtock ttvding com- 
panies) which &n were much patronized, by the public^ 
makes exceptioxis in &vot of some few incorporations, and 
mentiona, among these, ^e royal Instring company, as haying 
thriven greatly, to the advantage of the manukcturing iiidns- 
try of the kin^om. In the sequel, however, this company 
sujSered matenally from the illegal importation of the pro* 
hibited abides; and, for its greater {m>tecti6h, a new charter 
was confirmed to it by actof parliament- in 1696^ whereby ita 
powers and privileges were importantly 'enliu^ed, and the 
sole use, exercise, tmd benefit of making, dressing/ W Ini- 
tiating plsin black alamodesf renforces, and lustrings in &ig« 
. land and Wales was granted to it for fourteen yearn Bat 
this favored corporation was doomed to encounter a deadlier 
foe than foreifipi conipetition, in a change x>f the puUic taste, . 
and &bric8 of a di^rent texture coming to be' generally 
worn, to the neglect of those in which they dealt, the com- 
pany expended all its mcmey, and waa^ntirely broken up be-! 
lore the expiration of its charter. 

The treaty of Utrecht, concluded 'in Ai»il, 1713, was ac- 
companied by a commercial treaty with France, mider which 
the manufactures of each kingdom were to be. admitted into 
the other, upon the payment of low ad valorem dutiea In 
this measure of libenu commercial policy,' the government 
appears to have been txx> far in advance of the general intel- 
]^enee oC t^ pet^le, whose commercial prejudices were so 
strongly excited, that petitions innumerable were presented 
to the parliament against its ratification; and. after very vio- 
lent debates, the bill for rendering the treaty of cpmiherce 
efl^tual was rejected in the house of commons by a smalt 
majority. In the petition presented onthis occasion by the 
weavers' company of London, it is stated, that, owing to the 
encouragement afiSxrd^ by the crown and by divers acts d 
parliament, the silk manufacture at that time was twenty 
tunes CTeater in amount than in the year 1664; that all sotts 
of black and colored silks, gold and ralver stufib, and ribands, 
were made here as gOod as those of French fiibric; tbAt black 
nlk for hoods and scarfs, .which, twenty-five y^ars before, ^as 
all imported, was now made here to the annual value of nxve 
than 900,0002., whereby a great increase had been occasioiied 
in the expcNrtation of woollen and <^er manufactured goods to 
Turkey and Italy, whence the raw silk was imported. 

There seems to have been the less pretence for this opipo* 
ntkm on the part of the silk' trade, since it formed their boast 
tint they haa successfully imitated, and even outdone, tho 



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60 8ILK XAIfWACnmS. TAKT I. 



French nMOiiifiKstarefB in the ^^ky of thaw goods ^ 
witii these had ibrmerly supplied almost all the refSt of X«* 
rope. And it ai^>ear8 to Imve wholly escaped the peiietimtioo 
of the govenunent, thlai one argument upon which the weav- 
ers principally reliied for the continuance of restrictive T^a- 
kitions in their favor, was capable, as regarded the general 
commercial benefit, of being more fbrcibly used against thera: 
lor i$ in pajrment for the raw silk then imported, woollen and 
ether manufactured goods wore given, to how much greater 
•n extent would these, more natpral bntnches of indnstrf 
have been carried, if jpiiYment had been required for nMam- 
fiustured silk instead of the. raw material ? It is true that in 
mch case the labo|r bestowed upon silk fabrics would have 
been so far lessened, but the demand^ fcnr manufiuHxtring' labor 
throughout the kin^om wbuld have been aujnnented imtber 
than diminished, smce a larger proportion of the valiie of 
woollen manufactures consists in the wa^es of artieaoB, than 
is the case with tiiose of.silk,^ho6e origmal production is so 
much more costly ; and even with reference to the operative 
weavers themselves, their hardships would not have eqimlled 
tiiose which, in 6uch circnmstandes, usually fall upon me- 
chanics, since, they would have found im ^nployment for 
which they were qualified Inr previous habits and imowl^ge, 
in the weaving- of those additional cloths and stufii which 
would have been demaiided. The truth of this statement haa 
been recently confirmed by the transference of manq&cturiag 
industry from the cot|on ftctories to the silk looms of Man- 
chester and JSf aCclesfield. 

When, at a later period (September, 1786,) a treaty ef 
commerce was signed and. confirmed between the two courtB 
of France and Englaiid, under which the importation of maajr 
of the productions of either country was permitted into the 
other, on principles-of reciprocal liberality, and subject to.oii]3r 
nioderate €td wdorem duties, no evil consequences rcmilted tot 
our manufacturei«. 

'This treaty remained in force until the declaration of war 
bytiie French republic agamst this country in Fehruny^ 
1798 ; and during the 'entire six year? of its continuanee,^ a^ 
though our shopkeepers w^e daily resorting to 'France for 
their purchases, and articles of French production were mm 
bommonly met with in our warehouses as wer^ iboee of home 
manu&ctore, yet during no period of our commercial annais 
have our manufactures experienced a more steadily progres- 
sive march of pi)oq)erity ; for, if the taste of English com 
lad many to prefer the ftbrics <^ France,, the tide of i 



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CRAP. ▼• IN ENGLAim. 61 

in the latter coantry-set With at least equal stren^ in ftvor 
of English goods, and the wardiooses of London and Man- 
chester became the resort of French ine]:chants, to a degree 
which fumudied constant and increasing employment tatnnr 
artisans. 

There can be little reason for doubting that, had the 
French commerciid treaty of 1786 extendea to the intrcxiucr 
tion of silk goods upon liberal terms, ouir weavers would, at a 
much earlier period, have placed their productions upon tiie 
same equality, in point of excellence, with those &brics with 
which they would -have come into competHicx], as they have, 
beyond all controversy,' lately attained. . 

tip to the year 1718, our machinery for that purpose was 
80 defective, that this country was, in a great degree, de- 
pendent upon the ^rowsters rf Italy for t}ie supply of organ- 
zined silk ; but at that time Mr; Lombe of Derby, having, in 
the disguise of a common workman, succeeded m taking ac- 
curate drawings of silk-throwing machinery in Piedmont, 
erected a stupendous mill for that purpose on the river Der- 
went at Derby, and obtained a patent fer the sole and exdo- 
sive property m the same during the space of fourteen years. 
This grand machine was constructed with 26,586 wheela 
and 97,740 movements, which worked 73,726 yards of oi^an- 
zine silk thread with ev^ery revolution of the watw whed 
whereby tHe machinery was actuated; and as this revived 
three times in each nmlute, the almost inconceivable quaoti- 
ty <rf 318,504^960 yard^ of orgahzin'e could be produced daily. 
Only, one water wheel- Was employed to give motion to the 
whole of this machinery, the contrivance of which, consideiv 
ing the then state of mechanical science in England, spei^ 
highly for that of the constructor, who possessed the means of 
contrmling'and stopping any one or more of the movements 
at pleasure without pbstructmg the continued action of the 
rest. The building wherein: this naachinery was erected was 
of gi^eat extent, being five stories in height, and occupying 
one eighth of a nrile in length. So long a time was occupied 
in the construction of this machinery, and so vast was the 
ontlay it occasioned, that the original durati(m of liie patent 
proved insufficient rorthe adequate remuneration of its ento^ 
prising founder; who^ on these ^unds, applied to parliament, . 
m the year 1731, for an extension of the term for which his 
privilege had teen granted. Tliis, howfever, in consideration 
of the great national imp^tance of the object, which was op* 
posed to its continued hmitation in £he hands of any hidma- 
mJ; ymitaA granted ; but parliAment voted the mm of 14,600 
F 



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6d 8tLK XANVFACTUSE. PART I. 

pounds to Sir Thomas XiOinbe» as some ccnasjderatioa fat t^ 
eminent services^ rendered by him to the nation, in discover- 
ing a£d mtrodnciq^^ with so much personal risk and labors 
and in bringing to perfection at great expense, a work so 
beneficial to this kingdom; the grant being made upon the 
sole condition that competent persons should be alloyed to 
execute an exact naodel o£ the machinery, to be deposited in 
such a place as his majesty should appoint, in order to difluse 
and perpetuate the manumcture^ Tne act authorizing the is- 
sue of this money mentions,^ amon^ other causes which justi- 
fied the grant, the great obstruction ofier^ to Sir Tbomaa 
Loinbe*s undertaking by the king of Sardinia, in prohibiting 
the exportation of -uie raw silk which the engine were in- 
tended to work. 

Tiie imperfect records whieh until a comparatively recent 
period, were kept* of the progress of our commercial and 
manu&cturing occupations, m&e it necessary to search in 
the pa^es of contemporary writers, in order to glean such in- 
formation as m^ serve to denote that progress. In a work 
published in ml, entitled /'Hie British Merchant,'' and 
which bears marks of considerable authority upon mercantik 
subjecnts, it is stated (voL iL p. 220.), that the value of the sOk 
manu&cture in England- amounted at that time to 700,0)0 
pounds more than at that period of the revolution, when im- 
portations of wrought silks were made ^rom France to the 
annual value of haUT a million sterlinfif. 

For the further encouragement of £is manufacture, aa act 
Was passed (3 Geo. L cap. 15.) fot grantin^r, during the space 
of three years then next epsuing, certain bounties on ti^e ez- 
partation of fabrics composed wholly of silk, or of mixed 
materials whereof silk formed a portion. This concession 
in &vor. of the silk Hianufacture was one of the very few 
legislative' interferences aflfecting the trade which has been 
founded in justice. The^money grants on me exportation 
of wrought ^brics, although under the title of bounty, was, 
strictly speaking, only a drawback or repayme;it of* part 
of the duties exacted on the importation of. the raw niate- 
nal, and which, otherwise, placed the English manu&cture 
at an unfair disadvantage in foreign markets. 

It is stated that the ^Ik manufacture of England had now 
been brought to so great perfection in all its hranches as to 
• equal the nnest productions of any fbrei^ nation ; and this 
act for granting a drawback on exportation, was declared to 
have for its obiect " the giving c^ new encouragement to so 
aoUe &,maau&cture.** By the same statute a firther advan- 



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tage wa« afoded to- the nlk trade, by tiie ref>eftl ctf'all dattes 
on the importatioii of drugs used itt dyeing. 

The Russia company, which enjoyed by charter the sde 
right of trading between England and Russia, obtained permis- 
man, in- the year 1741, to import raw.silk, the produce tifPer- 
na, from the dominions of the czar of Muscovy, upon payment 
of the same duties as were'Jevied on the importaticoi of the 
same article from the Levant And it aflS>rd8 strong evidence, 
of the &vor wherewith the silk manu^ture Was still regarded 
by the Engl^ government, that they were willing so ^ to^ 
relax in its behalf the Navigation Act (12 Charles U.) which 
Ibr ao long a period had- been, and which, even down to our 
own time, continued to be ^^uarded with so much jealous 
watchfulness, as a main pillar of support for our commercial 
edifice. Considerable quantities of raw silk were impcnrted i|i 
this way, and thi? branch of business longusontinued to |n:ove 
hifi^y profitable to the Russia company. 

To meet the growing demand for the raw material on the 
pert of the ikifflish suk throwster, parliament, in the year 
1749, reduced thcf duties jMiyable on the importatiQiis of raw 
•ilk by the East India Ck)mpany from China to the eune rate 
as was levied oil that brought* from Italy ;. and, in order to 
ftister and extend the produetic^ of silk in the North Ameri- 
ean colcmies of Georgia and Cardma, where i^ready seme 
eomMerable progress had been made in- the pursuit, it. was 
potnitted to be brou£^t thence U>*the pdrt of I/mdon free of 

There is teason for believing that the so long boasted su- 
pnriori^ of Engli^ silk fkbrics over those qf foreign prbduc- 
tkn «xnted less. In reality than in sanguine imagination and 
pfejudiee ; since, in the face of such declared supedori^, and 
ttider the burden of duties fully equivalent to ihoae paid onr 
tire raw material Inr the Briti^ manufikcturer,- foreign goodd 
ccmtinned te find theb way to England, to the great^dissatis- 
ftction of the weavers, who, in a memorial pjesented by th^em 
to the lords of trade in the year 1764,- prajred th§.t, at least, 
double duties might bo laid upon all foreign wrought silks. 
To this prayer their lordships do not seem to havegivwi im* 
mediate attention ; for in the - foUo^^ing year, on the day ap» 
pointed for. the meeting of parlianfent, (the 18th of Janiia^), 
the Journeinnen silk weavers of I/mdon, who were sul^fering 
firom the then prevailing fiishion of wearing French' sitics, to* 
sembled in vast numbers, and marched to the parliament house 
with drums beating and colors flying (ad their succehsdv have 
6«quent]y done on subsequent: occasions afiecting^ their ipte» 



b ^oqgle 



64 BILK XANurAqrvRB. vj^mfE x* 

Mflto), in ovdw to promote their petitiosfl Hot re&^ maknig 
perscmal application to the several members as they proceeded 
to the house (^commons,. and repr^ntinfr the wretched situ- 
tlion of theinselves aji^d their &milies. l^e weavers were at 
tlik tkne not contented with asking for the imposition of ad- 
dttidnal import dutie^i in their favor, but prayed finr the total 
prohibition of all^reign wrough]; silks. 

The sight of siicb a multitude of people, who seemed ripe 
fcr the commissmn of almost any outrages, added to a report 
that the weavers owere preparing to set out from iniand towns 
in order to join their Lcmdon brethren, caused a neat conster- 
nation in the public generally,, and more especially among the 
principal wlk mercers, who, by ^eUing in the obnoxiotis ar- 
ticles, c<Miceived themselves mc^e exposed to resentment. lN> 
i^ake their peace, these dealers came under engagements with 
tiie weavers to.countermai)^ all their orders for foreign mOsa; 
m. contribution was made ibr the immediate r^ief of the kn^ 
^erers, and parliament reduced the duties payable upon tb« 
importation of niw And thrown silks. By tl^se measures the I 
weavers were appeased ; and the only vMdence committed by 
them consisted in breakmgthe windows of some a^ those mer> 
eers who. dealt in silks of fVench manufacture. 

At a later period of* the seqrion iui act was passed prohOiil* 
ing the tradp in foreign manuftctured silk stoc^gs* suk naiHa^ 
si^ silk gloves; and the prohMiiticii which already existed 
agamst the importatios of ribands, laces, and girdles of ^i^ 
under the act of Henry VII., was now enforced wi^ addkkiih 
al penslties. . 

These compliances, on ^he part of the leeislaturei with the 
demands ojf the Weavers, do not i^pear to hi^ve produced all 
the beneficial results which were e:cpected ; as, in the very 
aext year, it was rendered necessary, by their outrages, to 
pass an act, declaring- it to be felony, and punishable with 
death, to bfeak into any house or shop with Uie intention of 
malieiou^ damaging or' destroying any silk goods in the pro* 
qesB of majiiifacture. At Che same time, the importation and 
sale were toti^y prohibited of all foreign made silks and' vel- 
vets, with the only exceptions of thos^ brought from India, waA 
of silk crapes and tiffimies from Italy, but which last were 
buiidened with wi additional duty of seventeen shillings and 
sixpence for every pound weight, one half only of which was 
to be drawn back on exportation. 

The journeymen weavers were, tom th|s time, frequently 
led to form combinations for competing the imsters to jaise 
the, wages of their labor: and, in the month of Ootob^* 



_ ^ Digitized by VjOOQIC ^ 



^s^^m 



€XaAP. r* JK EN6LA9D. 65 

1709, notwithstanding tbe seyerity oi the enaotment just re- 
eited, and in defiance of it, frequent acts of ylolence were 
committed upon the property of their employers, and looms, 
together with the goods m them, were oflen destroyed. Tliese 
riots were not suppressed, without bloodshed, sevend spldien, 
as well as some of the misguided weavers, being killed in the 
skirmishes. 

The constant disputes which occurred between the jourw 
neyroeiiand master weavers on the sul:ject-of #ages, occar 
sioned the nasang of an act in the year 1T73, whereby the 
aldermen or Xiondon fin* that<uty,iuid the magistrates of Mid- 
dlesex finr the coun^, were empowered to settle, in quarter 
sessions, the wages of journeymen silk Weavers; and penal*- 
ties were inflicted upon such masters as gave, and upon such 
journeymen as received or demanded, either more or less wages 
tiian should be thus settled by this, authority. By the same 
act, all weavers of sDk were testricted, under penalties, from 
havmg, at any one time, a greater number of aj^rentices 
Ifaao two. 

This regulation^ Which applied only to the district of 8i»tal» 
^Ids, and which was confirmed by two subsequent acts (82 
Geo. IIL eap. 44. and 51 Gea UL cap. 7), ^e first to include • 
in its operation manufiietures of silk mixed with other mate^ 
rials, and the second to extend its provisions 4o female wear 
vers, continued in force until the year 1824. During \ia coni^ 
tinuance it was the occasion of great difiference of opinion- 
among those affected by it It is only ^during very recfiit 
years that a better understandW has been generally enter- 
tained of the principles which i£ould influence the trading 
laws of a country. The 'fiivorable consequences which have 
followed the abandonment of many restrictions, once viewed 
with favor bv the nation as being productive of eommeraial 
advantages, have jNroved hoilv greatly those advantages were 
ever-rated; or, toispeak more correctly, how wholly the re- 
etrictione fiuW of attaining their intended objects, and how 
impossible they are to be uj^ld voj^bbb wh<en accompanied by 
the fin-eed and Unnatural aid of war, during the continuance 
of which the strongest naticn^ may dictate commercial as well 
^ politicid la;w, a]^ render other countries tributary to her 
aggrandizement 

Every legislative interference between the manu&cturer 
•ad the working artisan mue$ prove hurtfiil to the trade in 
vr\uch they are engaged. By tending unduly to augmeot 
the rate ^ wages, it must exercise an injurious efi^t upon 
consumptioo ; end so much is this the case, that anm^gmmit^ 
P2 



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66 BILK KAKVrACnmB. TAMT I» 

tioii in the price of a prodactioD, which would teem too tam^ 
in amount for exercising nnj influence, has been known to 
min a inanu&cture aho^ther, by turning the public taste p^er- 
ananently into new channels, or by raising up competitijH 
ftem quarters unchecke4 by similar restraints. 

Thera being a ^reat scarcity in the.beginnin|f of the jreav 
1779 of Italian organzined silk, which was indispensahly no* 
quired for the warp in alk ms&u&cture«, its importation was 
permitted from any port and under any £ag until twenty 
days after the commencement of the next session of par- 
liament; and this relaxation was extended froni year to 
year, by successive acts of parliament, until the conclusion of 
the war. 

In an-estimatd of the condition and the amiual produce of 
the principal manufitcturers of Great Aitain, which was pah- 
lished in ^e year 1788, the difierent Inranches of silk mano- 
Ihcture were said to amotiht tor the sum of 8,860,000/., and it 
was fiuther stated, tbat this amount was progressively in- 
creasing. In 1784, additional duties were impo^ of one shil- 
ling and ten-penee per pound on' raw' silk, and of two shil- 
lings, per pound en thrown sill^ and larger countervailing 
drawbacks were granted on the exportation of iQanu&cturea 
goods composed wholly or partially of silk. 

The production of raw silk in Bengal, with the view to its 
exportation thence, was but of trifling amount until the mid- 
dle of the eighteenth century ; and its quality was so inferior 
as to occasion its sale for a price equal only to oiip third or 
one half that of Italian silk. The total quantity received froiA 
Bengal and Chinik in the ^ear 1750 was only 4337^ pounds ; 
but soon after that period it became a favorite object with the 
East India Company to encouragB its production, as one means 
whereby to draw tloBk India to Europe the surj^us revenues 
which were expected to flow into their cofiem 

In the year 1772, with the viewx)f rendering th^ silk of 
Bengal, which titherto was of tiie oommonest kind and fit 
only for in^vor purposes, acceptable to the English manu&o- 
tnver, proper machinery and competent persons were b&oX to 
that countary for the establishment of filatures, or sflk-winding 
ibctories, on the Italian system. The period chosen was, in 
one respect; veiy unfortunate, owing to a dreadful fom^ 
which at that time visited India ; and it was not until the 
yeur 1776 that any material advantage could be derived finoa 
this improved system. In the year just mentioned, the diip- 
stents of raw silk firom Bengal alone amounted to 515,1^18 
pottada^aad daring ten years, firmn 1776 to 1785 inchisive 



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chap; r. in enolakd. 67 

the a,renge importation Teachecl 660,283 pounds. Although 
in some individual yealre the quantity has iallen short from 
accidental causes, yet its tiverage amount has continued to 
advance with tolerable ste^iness; and the importations now 
amount to nearly 1,500,000 pounds annually. 

The qualitjr of the East India Company's importatioiis, b1» 
though much improved hy the use of the machinery sent from 
Eng&nd in 1772, was stiH considered to be greatly infericnr to 
that produced in Italy and Turkey ; and, prior to tlie year 
1794, it was thought applicable only to a very limited num- 
ber of uses. This state of things, causing Uieir importations 
to accumulate in their warehouses, led the directors to devisd 
means for the more general introduction of Bengal silk into 
iise; and, complying with the recommendation of a com- 
mittee of their body appointed for the purpose, they, in the 
last-mentioned year, caused a portion of their stock to be con- 
verted into organzine by silk throwsters in this country. 
Although this measure encountered a strong opposition- at 
that time from some branches of the silk trade, it was soon 
perceived to be of considerable benefit to the country, inas- 
much as the experiment tended to remove much of the pre- 
judice existing against the usd of Bengal silk, and the trade 
was rendered, less dependent upon, Italy, whence, during so 
long a period, the greatest part of the organzine used by om: 
weavers was brought Up to this y.ear (1794), Uie total 
quantity of silk organciiied in the English mills did not ex- 
ceed 50,000 pounds' wei^t annually : the mills being prin- 
cip^ly occupied in working singles and trams, the importa- 
tion <M which descriptions was wholly prohibited ; and as the 
Enfi^lish throwsters were often out of emi^oyment, they were 
willing enough to encourage this eacperiment on the part of 
the East India directors. 

On the supposition that the quality of Bengal silk was 
suited to the objects for which organzine was required, there 
coidd b& no dii9^rence of opinion concerning the policy of 
the step, since it was a means for providing profitably employ- 
ment for English labor and capital. The opposition which' 
had been ofiered to the measure proceeded from merchants 
interested in the importation of Italian thrown silk, who 
ibond means to influence, for a time, many among the manu- 
fiw^rers; but these, seeing at length that they were acting 
in opposition to their true mtereste, resumed the exercise of 
their own judgment, and employed organzined East India silk 
(or many of their principal mbrics. 

From that time the importations of Bengal silk have been 



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08 . StLK MAmTFACTUR£. PAST L 

{MOgreanvelj improving in qui^ty ; and, in consequence, the 
organzine made worn it htm grown gradually into favor, until 
it now ranks, for the most part, very little below Italian w- 
ffanzine, and, in some few mstances, has even sold fi)r ih» 
highest prices aflS)rded by the market Sanguine hopes inre 
been expressed by some persons of competent judgment, that 
at no very distant day the improvement may be euch. as to 
render oar maouftetureFs nearly independent of foreign sup- 
plies. The fiuiilities for extending the production in Ludia 
are such as to create reasonable Expectations that, in rewti 
both to quality and price, Bengal silk will force the produc- 
tions of Italy, and the supplies from Tuikey, out of the 
market In these western countries there is but one regular 
annual crop, while in Bengal there are three, at intervids of 
^r mont^ in March, July, and November. 

The quality of Chink silk, governed by ^he same circum- 
■taocea whieh limit the progress of improvement in all the 
kiatitutions of that extouMrdinary countj^, has contiuued with- 
out vaiiation from the period of its nrst introduction into 
Europe to the present liour. Its brilliant whiteness, the prm- 
cipal merit of China silk, is supposed to be owing to the i^)- 
plication of some indigenous production, the knowledge d 
which is confined to that country. A great part of the lav 
silk imp(^rted from China-is- used in the fabrication of hosieiy 
and gloves, in whieh articles it is acknowledged by ^reignen 
that the English manu&cturer has long greatly excelled the 
French, an advanta^ attributable to the. superiority of nw* 
«hineiy. 

Bengal raw silk is distinguished by two appellations^ 
countiy wound, and filature ; the fi)rmer being furnished bjr 
.native adventurers, who can* employ none but the rudeit 
methods for windinpr it;' while the latter is produced by se^ 
▼ants of the East hidia Conlpanv, and treated acccHrding to 
^e most approved European methoda 

Diflferent degrees of fineness or coarseness are denoted k 
the company's filatures in Bengal by the letters A, B, Cj 
silk of 4 tQ 5 cocoons is called A Na 1. ; of 6-8 cococniB, A 
No.2; of8-10cocoons,BNo. 1.; crf^lO-l^cococms, B Nol2.; 
of 12-14 and 16-18 cocoons, B Na 3.; of 18-20 cocoons, C 
No* 1. ; of 20-22 cocoons, C No. 2. ; 22-24, &c, cocoons, C 
No. 8. The silk which the natives reel by hand is much in- 
ferior, and is marked by the letters A, B, C, P, K It must, 
Aerefore, be understood, that the A Na L sUk of one district 
in India will differ very importantly in quality from that of 
•nother district, although bearing the same distinctive letter 



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CHAT. r. IN ENGLAND. 69 

•nd number ; this depending much upon the mode e£ culture, 
method of winding, &^. Even the filature-wound silks of 
difierent districts are subject to the same difference of quality. 
Thus, Bauleah filature is said to produce silk inferior in fine- 
ness to Radnagore or Cossimbazan. filature, which, again, are 
excelled by the produce of'€k>natea and ComercoUy. In the 
kst-mentioned of these filatures, through the scientific skill 
and energy of the East India Company's resident, a system 
ba9 lately been adopted of giving the necessary degree of 
4MBt tt> the eococtns while being wound, hy means of steam ; 
and both the arrangement and execution of the [^ns fi>r this 
purpose speak very ^vorably for the talents of the parties 
employed, when the remoteness of the situation and the con- 
sequent difficulties and obstacles to be surmounted are taken 
into aQjCount 

The number oi artisans needing employment was greatly 
augmented throughout the kingdom at the return of peace in 
the year. 1815; and this event being ^oon afterwards followed 
by two bad harvests, the situation .of the laboring poor was 
rendered stiU more- distressing; The increased number of 
hands, and the rise in the {nice of provisictns, con^ired in 
redncing the rate of wages>so low as to render it ip4>06sible 
fiNT the laborer, even wh^i fully em^ddyed, to obtain the quan^ ^ 
tity of the cheiqpest food necessary for subsistence. General 
complaint und discontent of course ensued. 

The riband weavers of Coventry, and pertsadjacent, having 
early in the. year 1818, petitiwied the legislature for relief 
their case was referred K>r investigation to a committee of 
the boose of commons. A most laborious inquiry ujwn the 
subject was instituted ; in the course of' which they obtained 
evidence and information from great numbers of the most in^ 
telligent silk manufiicturers and weavers of L(mdon, Coven- 
try, Macclesfield, and, in short, of ever^ district wherein the 
alk mannfiusture had seated itself in En^^and. The result 
•of this inv^igation proved that, althoujgh there doubtless 
was much individual misery among lalxHrmg artisans, arising 
ftom the 'Causes just mentioned, th«re .was no reason for 
imagining that'any particular distress had visited those con- 
nected with the trade in silk; but, on the contrary, it ap* 
peared, from the concurring testhnony of all the witnesses, 
that the quantity of silk goods manufactured and used through- 
out the Inngdom was on the increase, and that, notwitbstandmg 
the greater number of looms, the weavers were all fully em- 
ployed, and even fi»>ced to extend their toil beyond the usoal 
hours to obtain support firom the low rate of wages. 



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to SILK MANUFACTURE. lUmT I. 

That, mider these ^sircumstaiicee, the deflpairingt artMHi 
ehoi^d seek relief, 1^ any means which tiiey thought likelj 
to afford it, can excite no wonder ; hat that the master manii- 
fiieturer, v^o saw one establishment after another rising up 
around him, while, at the* same time, his own commerciu 
transactions were continually extended, should declare his 
opinion that this increase of the trade was occasioned by the 
distress which accompanied it, and should pray, as a remedyg 
for the impoeiti<m of additional restrictions ujpoii his trade, is 
somewhat surprising; and when^ in compliance with this 
prayer, a committee <^ legislators ai^ -seen gravely recom- 
mending enactments, one ^ the first inevitable consequenees 
of whi<^ would have been the aggravation of the eviU b^ 
throwing a large number of artisans out oi employment, it 
becomes difficult to withhold the expression of astonishment 
The hoiHie of commons spared itself the imprudence c€ car> 
Tying into efieet this recommendation of their committee; 
and wiljiki thr^e years .from that time a committee c^ the 
house of lords recommended strenuously the entire abolition 
of those restrictions, the extension of which had so lately 
been declared." absolutely necessary.** 

Baring the whole of the period betwe^i the years 1773 
and 2824 the silk trade in Ei^land was kept in its artificial 
state by restraints on the importaticMi of foreifirn manufactured 
goods. Being thus secured in the pofisessioA of the hmne 
inarket, and in the supplying (^ our immedkite dependencies, 
there was but little incitement for the weavers to improve 
their art Thus the same inartificial loom, and the tnme 
throwing machinery,, continued to be used- down to the Tery 
momeikt when the competition of foreign artisans compelled 
the attention of our throwsters and weavers, and obliged them 
to devise means for more succe^sfiilly meeting the produo- 
tions of foreign looms in our own markets. 

The silk goods of France had always found their way to 
this country, in a limited quantity, through smugglers; and 
being, in consequence of their then superior quality, eagerly 
sought by all who could procure them, our manVifketurere 
were dismayed at the prospect of their legal admission, air 
though loaded with heavy protecting duties; Prom being 
always wholly dependent uporf home demand, the silk manu- 
facture was liable to serious fluctuati<»)8 with every change 
of fiishion. The extensive, sales of one season were fre- 
quently followed by the diminished consumption of the next 
The weavers then deprived of employment would sink into 
fte depth of wretdiedness. This constant f^Hernation of |npo^ 



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^fmmmmmmmmmmimmmmmmmimmm 



QMATm V^ IV EK&ULND* * 71 

wrkymnd distress hod always attended the silk trade of 
iki^land, although the preponderance of the former state was 
proved by' the incr^ing amount of the manufacture, com- 
paring one period with another in the course of years. 

It was with a view to lessen this fluctuation, and meet the 
altered state of commerce attending the^ return of peaoe, and to 
place the silk trade upon a basis of natural capability, rather 
tfaAn of artificial suppor^ that, in the year 1824, the whole 

Sl^stem was changed. The high duty on> raw silk was aban- 
(med, ibr one merely nonuncU ; that on thrown silk was re- 
duced nearly one half, and the admission of &rei£^ manufao- 
tared goods was rendered legal alt6r tbe 5th of Jul^, 1826. 

It was hoped that the Weavers, having so matenal a con- 
cession in their favor, in the alteration of the duties, would 
have been entiled, during the two years which must elapse 
before the admissicm of manufactured' goods, to prepare for a 
successful rivalry with the foreign weaver ; but they were 
led by the increased demand, consequent upon the abatement 
of du^% rather to employ their powers in augmenting the 
quantity than in impirovii^tbe quality of their &lmcs. 

The local acts of 17^ regulating the wages of silk 
weavers in and about London, commonly called the Spital- 
^Ids Acts,, the provisions of which had; been subsequently 
applied to Dublin, were wholly repealed, as has akeady been 
i&entioned^ in the month of March; 1824. The acts were 
approved and defended by some person? well acquainted with 
the trade, on the ground that^heir operation 1;ended to secure 
to the workman only &ir and reasonable wages for his labor« 
and to prevent an exorbitant riie of poor rates. When the 
demand ^r any particular article of manu&cture is slack, a 
competition among the artisan^ engaged in its production 
must always ^iso^ which, in the alwence of prohibitory eb- 
actments, will lead them to accept less wages ; and thus the 
articles <^ their production being furnished at lower prices, 
an increased demand is created, which brings thin^ once 
more to their natural level. But the operation of this local 
act, by OHistantly maintaining the prices of goods at their 
highest point, lessened the chances of increased consumption* 
and eonaequently protracted the period of relief; while the 
Blaster manu&cturer, being restricted from the payment of 
less than the regulation prices for labor, was without the 
temptation to add to bis stock of goods, in the hope of a re- 
vival demand, which, under similar circumstances, has oftem 
lightened the evil to the laboring artisan. 
la its general operations, tliis compulsory regulatkm ^ 



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7l2 SILK MANUFACrVRE. EW I* 

wages was fttally opposed to the adoption of improTemenli 
depending on the use of machinery. The weaver was paid a 
certain price for the performance of labor with his own im- 
plements. However much it would have abridged that kibor 
could he have borrowed the aid of maclnnery, the means for 
this were never within his reach. In 4>ther branches of roaou- 
fiicture, processes have been importantly simplified by the in- 
vention of artisans, who always find, in their employers every 
willingness to iheur the necesary risk, and to assist them 1^ 
making the requisite experiments, knowing that they nnuit 
share in the consequent advantage. The greatest improvement 
that has yet been made in figured silk weaving was the |nnv 
duction of an operative weaver. Had this invention been in- 
troduced in England during the existence of the local act, the 
important branch of manuracture jqst mentioned must have 
been abandoned in Spitalfields. The weavers could not by 
any means have acccnnplished the purchase of the machine ; 
and as the masters must have paid the same prices in either 
case, they assuredly would not have put themselves to ex- 

Eense in the matter. The consequence in such case woold 
ave been, that the country manufacturer, being Me to make 
such arrangements with^ the weavers fn his employ as weit 
called for by the alteration of circumstances, would have 
undersold the London trader, and monopolized the busineaa 
That this is not a fencifiil or doubtful view is proved by 
the fact ; for since the repeal of this restrictive enactment, 
the master manufkcturers have, a,% their own charge, ac- 
tually fbmished improved machinery for the use of &e ape" 
rative weavers, and havQ participated with them in the re- 
sulting benefits. 

During the continuance of these acts, there was, in the 
Spitalfields district, ho medium 'between the ^11 regulation 
prices and the total absence of employment It does not ap- 
pear that wages were ever fixed so high as to enable the 
weavers to save much of their earnings, \9h&i even they 
were fully employed. Had it been otherwise, the unprov>> 
dence which usually characterizes the uneducated poor, wouM 
have prevented their reaping advantage firom the^ circum- 
stance ; and it must surely be better, on every account, that a 
man so circumstanced i^ould, in seasons of dullness, work for 
even a scanty pittance rather than that he should be ^^loUy 
incapacitated from contributing to the support of hims^.and 
his family. 

The district of Spitalfields has, it is true, ^oyed a veiy ma- 
terial advantage over every other place in the kmgdom wliere 



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CH^P. V- IN ENeiiAND. 73 

the mlk manufkcture has been estabHcdied. 4ls pwmiQr to 
the great mart ^r eonsuraption, and the ev«r-varyuig demands 
€^ fiiahipn in the metropolis, have given constant employment 
to a certain extent, withoiitt much, reference to the cost of 
production ; but as this soui^e of demand must necessarily be 
fiur below the power of supfdying it, superior artisans alone 
have obtained employment by resLson of it, and the relief has 
consequently been f^r more partial in its efi^ects thwi u6der 
other circumst^udces it might have|)roved; Some intelligent 
manufacturers, ^o advocated the regulation ^stem, argued, 
that since, on account of duties on the raw material and the 
cost of it& transport, Eln^land could not ebmpejte with the Con- 
tinent, but must have its market limited strictly to its own 
wants, and those of its immediate dependencies, it was of 
little inq)ortance whether wages were high or low; &r if the 
prices had been reduced by the whole amount of .wages, the 
actual consumption would not have been extended by it ; and, 
on the other hand, if the price of labor were left without re- 
striction, the selfish disposition of many master manufiu^tu- 
rers would lead them to take every unmir advanta^ of the 
journeymen weavers, who would thence be drive^ habitually, 
to the resource of the poor-iW^ and thus, deprived of their 
feelings of honest independence, would sink in the scale of 
society, with morals deteriorated equally with their outward 
conditicm. Allowing to this argument ajl the force and phi* 
lanthropy which can be demanded, it must be admitted that to 
be effectual and equitable the acts should have embraced the 
regi^tion of Wjiges in all the ^ilk manu&ctories thiou^out 
the faangdcxn ; am the proof of this is afforded by the fact, 
wMcbr has never been disputed by even the warmest advo- 
cates for regulation, that the operaticM^ of the Spitalfields act 
occasioned the removal of many branches of the silk trade from 
Lcmdoii to districts ili the eountiy beycmd the limits of that 
restrictive enactment 

Notwithstanding the contrary tendency of this measure, 
the trade o^ Spitalfields has, accompanied, it is true, 1^ 
«ome distressing fluctuations, gone on increasing. If one 
branch of manuracture was attracted elsewhere by the greater 
cheapness of labor, others were called ii«fco existence; and 
Londcm, from the cause befi>re explained, has alwc^s b^en, and 
will con^ue to be, the nursery for the in&nt branches of 
the manu&cture. 

Hie abolition of duties on the importetiaa of raw silk qi 
cheyeiii:1824»aBd the total altentioa iu oureyitem of re-^ 



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74 SILK MANUPACmmE. PAHT !• 

BtrictioBS which fWlowedihat measure, have tended, l^ their 
happy ,c<Misequencea, greatly to enlighten the public mind 
upon the subject of comniercial prohibitions. The silk trade 
of England, which, in tiie opinions of many experienced per- 
sons, existed only through the exclusion of the manufiwstures 
of other countries, has received new life frota the breaking 
down of the barriers rai3ed for its protection. 
• During the lerment which accompanied this revoluticm in 
our. commercial policy, and when the minds of some were 
filled^ with apprehensions, preparations w^re made by the 
great majority -of the manufticturers for a. most important 
extension of out productive powers. The capital set free by 
the abolition of the duty was not suffered to lie dormant, but 
Avas employed by them ifl accomplishing this^extensitm. The 
number of throwing mills in the' country was increased 
from 175 to 266, and of spindles from 780,000 to 1^80,000: 
the looms employed in Spitalfields amounted in munber to 
17,000; and so' great wa6 the demand for thrown silk, that 
although, for the moment, the foreign sJupply was increased 
by nearly fifty per cent, and the number Of mills was aug- 
mented m the de^ee just menticMied, still the weavers were 
frequiently obliged to wait- during months for the full execu- 
tion of their orders by the throwsters. 

In 1824 8£nd 1825 all was excitement and over-production 
in every branch Of our national .commerce and industry, and 
then followed the dreadful revulsion .which will live so. long 
in the memwies of our merchants and manufacturers. In the 
month of July, 1826, the admission of foreign silk maheiac- 
tured goods was to commence, under a duty equivalent to 
about fiiirty per cent on their value ; during the season of 
depression, which is ever unfitvorable to the formation of 
sound opinion, a clamor was raised against this relaxation, 
the prospect of which was alleged as the main cai^e of tiie 
weavers' distress. Happily, however, for the best interests 
of the country, its commercial policy was swayed' by one, 
who, like the celebrated Turgot, had the ability to see, and 
the firmness to uphold, measures of wisdom and of prudence, 
in oppositicMi to the clamor of his opponents. Among theee, it 
is to be presumed, there is scarcely to be found one who doqs 
not now acknowledge, with thankfulness and admiration, the 
^stness of his views, which then passed for visionary specu- 
lations, and the constancy of his mind, which they were th«i 
prone to stigmatize as oli^inacy. 

The kw permitting the importation of foreign manu&o 



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CHAK V* IN ITNOLAND. ' - 75 

tured ^ks was allowed to come into (^ration, and hajs doae 
more for the. developn^ent of >kill in the English weavers, 
than might have been {^rodaced during^ges of a dull and en- 
ervating monopoly. The boast of former days, so often made, 
and wiUi so little foundation, is now fully realizc^d^ ^md the 
fabrics of our artisans vie' irticcessfully,*m excellence, with 
the most beautiful performances of the ccmtinental wavers, 
so that many of the productions of our looms ai;e sought and 
viewed ^ith preference in countries whose superior advan- 
tages were hfeld up to the English weavers as caus^ for ap- 
prehension amounting to dismay. 

• A short .time previous to the full operation of ; the iaw c^ 
1824, a silk manufacturer of high respectability and skill 
quitted France and formed an establirfmient* in London ; this 
became aif immediate object of jealousy to the Engli^ wea- 
vers, who complained that it was used principally as a cover for 
an illicit introduction of the then contraband fabrics of France. 
This accusation was met, on the part of the foreigner, with 
a demand for the strictest investigation, and the contents of 
his warehouse were mib^ected to a severe scrutiny. When, as 
the xesult of the inspection, a seizure had been made of thirty- 
seveii {ueces of goods, which, in the estimation x>f the most 
competent judges from Spitalfields, were unquestionably of 
foreign make, 3ie individual Engli^ weavers, whose skill had 
produced the. articles, were brought forward to disprove the 
allegation.' 

Is any further argument required,"to prove the accuracy of 
judgment that dic^,ted this departure from a ^stem of bur- 
theasome duties oni restrictions, which, while other branches 
of our manufacturing industry had been advancing with giant 
strides, in the race of improvement, kept the silk trade done 
in a state of listloss inactivity 1 jK" so, it will be found in the 
evidence of custom-house returns. * 

Were any individual year singled out as an example of this 
fact, it might be considered as inconclusive, and perhaps un- 
feir. ^The period immediately following' the alteration of a 
system is not one wherein the permanent effects of that al- 
teration can be rationally considered i and the trading of 
the first year after the abolition of the heavy duties miffht 
have been thereby stimulated to an unnatural extent ; but fliis 
objection cannot apply, if the period of comparison be spr«id 
over a space of five years, for in that time, any amount of un- 
due excitation and, over-trading would have found its correc- 
tion in fiDllowing years of consequent depression. 



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76 



nUi ]CAK17FACTimS« 



PAST U 

-Contrastinit, tiierefore, the five years immediately preced- 
kig the alteration of system, with an equal period followinur 
that measore, we find, that in the year 



1819, the importation wii, — »w silk, 
thrown. 



laao, 
lan, 

188% 
1889^ 



IbB. " 
1,782^78 

8^12,969 

2^290,725 
1^407,688 

2432^886 

ttotdof ....*.-'••• 10,925»646 

don. . 



rawnlkf 
thrown, 

nwsilk, 
tiirown, 

raw silk, 
throwDr 

nwnik* 
thrown. 



lbs. 

1/480,990 

901J^ 

1,702,416 
809,953 

1,940,516 
350,209 

2,037,415 
970^273 

2,085,972 
846,314 



Makinf a total of • • • • • • 

in the lait five yean of prohibitiog 



In 1824^ the fint year of low duties, the importation 

tbs. 



. law silk, 
Uuown, 

1895, -,...,.. lawaOk. 
. i dirown. 



1826, 

1827, 



raw silk, 
duown, ' 

raw^silk,- 
thrown, ' 

raw silk, 
thrown. 



Making a total of 



3,540,910 
452,469 

9,030,756 
556,642 

1,965,042 



lbs. 
8,993,379 



3,755,242 
454,015 

4,162,550 



^,58736 

2,244*367 

4,209^867 

4,547.818 
18,582,213 



in the first five years of relaxation ; exhibiting an increase of 
no less than seventy per cent in the annual oonsumption of 
the country. 

It has been stated, that when, in the year 1824, ^e legis- 
lature determined upon altering tiie system Iw which the dlk 
manu&cture was conducted; and legsdized, prospectively^ 
the importation of ibreimi silk goods under a rate of dn^ 
which Was judged to afiord sufficient protection to the home 
mannfiicturer, concession was so fkr made to the mppreho^ 



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CKAP. V. IN ENGLAND. T7 

eions of this class as to defer the operaticm of that portion of 
the law for two years, which interval was asserted to he re- 
quisite in order to ettahle the English weaver to prepare him^ 
- self, hy the production of goods fitted for that object, for the 
formidable competition in which he was about to engage. 

That men occupied in any particulv calling Miould by 
want of judgment and inf(Nrmation be betrayed into measures 
a^inst their interest, is not extracnrdinary ; pfevented by the 
cir<5Um6tances wherein they are placed from taking more than 
a partial viewilrf* the -aubject, they are, prone to fill up the 
prospect with chimeras, and shrink with apprehension fi*om 
phantoms of their own creation: btil itis^ on the other hand,^ 
truly surprising that. otiiers, whose faculties had no such in- 
fluences to midead them, should yet have failed on this occa- 
sion to perceive that the same interval which was granted to 
the home manufacturer was equally enjoyed by the foreigner, 
during which he might accumidate a large stock of goods 
read^ to be ^Oured into our markets at the moment of the act 
commg into operation. This, in &ct,' was the course pursued 
by the French ; and when the near prospect of this inunda^ 
tion had created' a new subject for alarm in the minds of -our 
own manufactufersf an expedient was adopted as a remedy, 
which was equally at variance with liberally as it afiect'ed 
our neighbors, and contrary to sound p<dicy as it regarded 
ourselves. • * .. • 

The French weavers had alrieady been accustomed to make 
their silk gfOods of one particular length ;. and with the design 
of rendering these their preparatory labors unavailing, a law 
was passed by parliament, whereby it was, among other things, 
enacted, that.only silks of certam declared lengths, di^rent 
altegetibier from those hitherto made and uB&d in France, 
-flhould be admitted; disquali^ing thus from lesal importation 
fdl goods then made wiUi ar view to the Engli£ market The 
•consequences of this enactment were, that the French manu- 
ilu^tarers set instantly to work to make firesh goods of the pre- 
scribed len^ for E^lish consumption, while the prohibited 
pieces, iallmg as instantly in value, were purchased by the 
illicit trader, and smuggled into this country ; their low price 
eausing them mcnre effectually to interfere with our domestic 
production.'^ 

It had never been found practicable, under the system of 
ezclusioa, to prevent the prosecution of this contraband trade 
in sUk goods. French silks and ribands, finom their then supe- 

•NoteM. 
G2 



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76 ntX KANITVACTVBK. TJLMft f« 

rk^ to thofle of our own production, ha4 alwuya been p»e» 
ferably sought by our countiywomen t and to such an extent 
was this trade systematized^ that silk ffoods of all desciiptkiiis 
might be purchased in France ^ the seUer taking upon hiinself 
to guaranty their safe deliverer in Exigknd, at the very hoase 
of the purchaser; and relieving himself in turn nom tlw 
chances of loss, by insuring the amount at offices established 
for that purpose, and^ where policies were granted with wm 
much &cility against loss by seizure, as for protection a^aiirat 
the elements — the premium varying, of course, aocording «s 
a greater or less degree of vigilance was found to be' exerted 
by our revenue-officers.* 

. With the knowledge of thdse (Nractices full in their mindsiy 
and aware, £rom eiiiperience, of tli^ impossibility of efi^tually 
stof^ing them, ^e admission of foreign silks was no longer 
matter of choice with our government ; and the <mly questioB 
for consideration was how to draw from this branch of com- 
merce jthe highest amount of revenue^ It was evident, that, 
by fixing the rate of duty too h|gh, the French smuggler and 
tue insurance offices would coUtmue their successfhl ccnnpeti- 
torship; and the government was sorely perplexed by the cer^ 
tainty of this cm theone.hand, and l^ the overcharged feais 
of our manu^turers on the other, in t^ir endeavors to eflfect 
an accurate adjustment of the question. 

Independendy of the enormous dzpeQse^ attending estab- 
lishments for tl:^ prevention of illicit trading, — and this pe- 
cuniary evil is one of no inconsiderable magnitude, — govern- 
mentB would appear to be under a moral obligaticm to remove, 
«i^ fiir as possible, all incentives to ^e commission of t^ 
erime of smuggling- '^^^ opinion, that infractions of revenue 
laws are, at most, but venial ofi^nces, is one very generally 
held among^the uneducated y and, judging frcwn &e encour- 
agement ammled to smugglers, the idea is not by any means 
confined tO that class : i^ however, crimes are to be estimated 
with reference to their probable influence upon the general 
wdl-being of society, the smuggler's calling can by no meantf 
be considered harmless ; since, by familiarizing him with tio* 
lations of the law in one of its codes or branches, it tends to 
break down the barriers which should restrain him in regard 
to moral observances generally; and, in truths a laxity of 
practice in this so-esteemed vernal foult leads firom one st^ to 
another, through various gtadations oi crime, until the mind 
and heart become at length wholly corrupt and brutalised | 

•NoteN. 



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CttAf. T. IN KNeXJkKD. 79 

and mturders the most cruel and atrocious, perpetrated in de» 
fending the objects of their criminal traffic, are the melancholy 
consequences. 

While the necessity exists for Ihe imposition (^duties, it iM 
hardly to be hoped that smuggling cui altogetlier cease ; nor, 
indec», does it appear possiUe for any government, howerer 
strong and vi^Uant, effectually to counteract the dili^nee 
and activ^ of those who draw their subsistence fh>m illicit 
tinding : but that much may be done in lessening the evil, by 
a. judicious adjustment of the scale of dii^es, is rendered ev^ 
dent by the &ct, that since the duty On^>reign sOk goods has 
been placed on its present footing, it has become conmaxative- 
ly indifibrent to the trader, as a questicm of profit, whether to 
pass them re^larly through the custom-house, or to insure 
the yklue agkinst the chances of seizure; the demands of the 
smugglers and the insurance offices being nearly^eqiial to those 
of the government From this it may &irly be inferred, that 
the amount imperted^of smuggled silk gooos has been greatly 
diminished : many persons who would h&ve 'little or no ob^ee- 
ti(m to these importations on the, score of their illegality, 
would yet be restrained from embarking in adventures attended 
with nsk of loss, and would prefer to follow the course of vir- 
tnous and good citizens from the moment that an opposite lipe 
c£ conduct ceased to be accompanied by extra profit^ !. 

The inducements ^r smuggling affi>rded by the imposition 
of exorbitant duties,^ aithou^ strong, are yet by no means so 
great as where the importation of an article of commerce is 
altogether prohibited. This a£S)rds the greats encourage- 
ment to the illicit trader^ since it> directly enlists among Qie 
ranks oi his customers that numerous and influential class c^ 
persons which estimates the value of things a<;cording to their 
Bcarcity and difficulty of attainment, giving to the interdicted 
article a fiictitious superiority, which disappears at the flrst 
breath that destroys the prohibition. Is it not notorious, that 
during the whole period of their interdiction, French silks 
and rmands were to be seen in every socie^ that laid claim 
to the distinction of fiishioa; and that India silk handkerchief 
were to be feund universally in the poc^ts of men of the 
upper and middle clasKS, and even adorning the necks of the 
laborer and the artisan 1 

Prohibitory laws seem to be considered unjpst aqd arbitrary 
interferences with the natural liberty of man, and to cany 
with them none of the sanctums of morality : they are broken, 
tfonsequently, without hesitatwn, by peracms who would yet 



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60 8ILK MANtTFACnmE. PAKT I. 

■cixtide to withhold clandestinely the payment of any mte of 
duty that might be impoeed.'" 

It is not asserted that the introducticm of foreign manufiio- 
tured silk goods should be at once permitted free from the 
imposition of any duty. It has been contended, that some pro- 
tection is called' for, oecause the foreign manufacturer is m 
the country of production, while the <^t of the raw material 
is enhanced to us by the expense of carriage ; an argument 
scarcely deserving of any consideration, since the conveyance 
of manuiaictured articles misst be at the least as expensive as 
that of the raw material ', and, besides, so long as f^rance con- 
tinues to draw any part of her supplies fit>m abroad, the price 
of thp whble of the silk manu&ctured m that country must 
be governed by the cost of the portion which is imported. 
But while the expanse of living is higher in Great Britain 
than it is in those countries whose political and financial ch*- 
cumstanees place them in a less artificial stati^ the vniges of 
labor ought to be and will be higher- in something like an 
equal ratio. Greater comforts are needed by the English 
artisans, in consequence of the less favorable nature of our 
climate ; and if, after taking all these circumstances into cal- 
culation, it is yet found that the laboring classes here are not 
all sunk so deeply into the abyss of poverty and wretchedness 
as those of some neighboring states may faie, it will not thence 
be argued that their situation is too favorable, and that vthe 
principle of buyhi? in the cheapest market should, as is some- 
times insisted on, be carried to so extreme a length as wouM 
lower, them to the same miserable levels and reduce them to 
the procurement of bare subsistence.!- Ther^ is too much 
reason for believing that this is, in many of our raanufactunnff 
districts, the unhappy condition of our laboring artisans; ana 
occurring, as it generally does, with reference to branches 
of industiy wherein we have no foreign rival to contend ' 
against, legidative protection would be unavailing; but so 
long as, by the imposition of a moderate duty upon importa- 
tion, the real comfi>rt of a large and deserving class of our 
fellow-countrymen can be maintained, there tie surely few, 
if any, Who would object to the impost : but to carry this pro- 
tection beyond the limit h^e pointed out, would be injurious 
towards other classes of the community, Mrithout insuring, in 
any adequate degree, the particular benefit that was inteiMJed. 

In regard to the silk manufiicture, the duty required in 
offder to maintain the Ekiglish weavers in the same relative 

*I«oteO. t Note P. 



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OHAP. V* IN BN6LAM). St 

poshiMi which they alr^dy hold with those of BVance, is very 
much lower than, without -inquiry, many would be led to 
imagine. On consulting a comparative statement drawn up 
by an experienced silk manu&cturer of London, it appears 
that, independent or duties, which are purposely kept out of 
view, the entire difference in the cost of one pound of the 
b^ thrown silk, when manufactured, into sixteen yards of 
Gros-de-Naples, is Ave diillings and sixpence, or bareljr fbur- 
teeh and a ludf per cent f*' of this ainount of difference, it wUl 

* ComparetiTe estimate of the cost of one poand of silk when mann^ 
fiustored into Gros-de-Naples at Lyons and London respectively. 

IklAfCfM. InLonicm. 

£.t.d, .£ 9, d. £ i.d. 

Price current of organzine Price current of ' 

85«. per lb., 8 ounces of fine tram silk 

which^ 12 6 in Italy 12 6 ' 

Ditto of tram S2«. Bd. per Export duty asd 

Ibi, 8 ounces^of which • 11 3 expenses .006} 

Dyeing warp and shoot'- •% Oil Carnage to Calais 3} 



14 8 per lb. 1 24 

Add 4 Ounces for loss in £i^t ounces of which • 11 IS 

^mngaod waste, to make Price current of. 

16 ounces when manufiu> '- fine oiganzine 

■ -* 0-6 2 in Piedmont • - 1 3 



Duty and ez- 



1 10 10 p^M^ .....00^ 

Whidmgandwarpinglf.3i, Carriage to Cahus (0 ^ 

Weaving 16 yaids., . 

2«cfconina 1 pz. to per lb. 1 4 1 

the yard, at i^d. Eight ouhces of which • 12 0| 

peryard - 6 Dyeinff warp and shoot, 

— — 7 8 olack and ordinary CO* 

Ion, soft and souple -016 



118 



Diflbrencn in &vor of the Add 4 ounces for loss in 1 4 6 J 

French manufacturer • X) 5 6 dyeing and waste, to 
— — make 16 ounces when 

manuftctnred .«...0 6 2 



llOIOi 
Windmg and warping 2 0} 
Weaving 16 yards, 
reckoning 1 ounce 
to the yud, at 8d* 

peryard 108 

' ' 012 H 

2 3 7 2 3 7 



The fineight and expense fimn Calais are not indoded in the above 



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83 SILK MANUFACTtJEE. PART I. 

be seen that the sum of four shilling^ and eight ponce, or 
twelve and a quarter per cent k made up of the higher wages 
paid in London for the actual weaving of the fabric; the 
higher charge of the dyer amounts to seven pence ; and the 
small remaining sum is divided among the persons emj^oyed 
in warping and winding the silk.^ 

This comiNirison is made on .the supposition that Italian 
thrown silk is used in both cases ;. and, a^ already mentioned, 
excluding the umount c^ duty payable on unportation to this 
country. . This duty is after the rate pf three shillings and 
sixpence per pound; but tiie importerisfumi^ied, when it^is 
paid, with a transferable title to draw back the^ amount upon 
the exportsEti(Hi of an equivalent weight of wrotight silk; of 
this title he, pf course, avails himself either pereonally or- by 
proxy, and it wbuld, consequently, be impropeir to consider 
the duty in forming this comparative estimate. 

it has been^well r^arked by the barPn Chai*les Duinn, 
who, &om his diligent researches into all subjects connected 
with comm^cial questions, is entitled to have his cpinioos 
received with a high degree of respect- and cpn^dence, that 
in the most considerable branches of maan&ctur^ the most 
decided superiority has been obtained by people with whom 
the price of labor is dearer than with their rivals. He in^ 
stances the potton manu&ctures of England, Which are fur- 
nished better and cheaper than by any other people of Europe, 
althou^ labor is deeurer in (xreat Britain thaii in any other 
country of our hemisphere. He then brings forward the 
manufkcture of linens, in which the Dutch wad Belgians sur- 
liass and sell cheaper th$n the Bretons, although the price of 
labor is dearer in Belgium and Holland than it is in Britany : 
and he fturther shows, that in the production of 'fine woollens, 
France surpasses and undersells Spain, although the price of 
labor in the former is higher than in the latter kingdoin.* 
. The superiority in these instances, which is sufficiently 
striking, Dupin rather refers to higher attainments .of me- 
chanical skill, and greater degrees of commercial knowledge 
and enterprise. , . ^ 

Is it then expecting too much to hope that, by continuinff 
td apply to the silk manufacture the same amount of skill and 
enterprise which have serveld to gain for us a pre-eminence 

statement: the coet of transporting tnanufactureti goods from Ltonsto 
London, which is greater, must, in such case, have b^en added to the 
(tfice of the Lyons manufacture. 
♦NqteQ. > , 



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CHAP* V. IN SNOLAND. 83 

80 decided in our cotton fabrics, we may shortly beonne suffi- 
ciently expert to brin^ the produce of our silk-looms^ unpro- 
tected by discriminatmg duties, into successful competition 
with those of France, and to meet the latter in the fair eqpirit 
of rivalry in those fi>reign markets which have hitherto be^ 
virtually closed against us ? ' , 

It does not require any very deep research into the subject 
to discover that me silk manu&cture of England has received, 
in all its branches, a most important impetus from the altera- 
tion of system which began in the year 1824 For a time 
this impulsion showed itself only in the augmented quantity 
of raw material submitted to the labors of the weaver; but 
from the. period when wrought silks of foreign, man u&ct^ire 
were admitted le^Uy into competition with those of domes- 
tic fabric, our artisans have proved how capaUe they are of 
evincing as great a degree of ingenui^ in this branch, as 
England has so long been accustomed to display in other manu- 
factures. The once existing disparity in quality between 
goods of French and English ma^e has, with some very un- 
important exceptions, 4iot merely disappectred^ but actually 
ranged itself on the side of the British artisan ; and as re- 
gards the cost of conversion, if the^ur of C(»npe11tibn has 
not liTged us ^rward in an equal ratio, it has yet done much, 
— mofe indeed than, without experience of the &ct, was (mce 
thought possible. Improvements in the machinery employed, 
both in throwing and weaving, have led to this gratifying re- 
sult — ^that the cost of the processes of organ^ining silk has 
fiillen to little more than one half what it formerly amounted 
to, and a much greater proportional abatement has occurred 
in figure weaving. 

Catf it be ]»etended, that these advantages would have en- 
sued under the old enervating system of high duties and pro- 
hibitions ? koA does it not seem desirable that the legislature 
should follow pp thi& result, removing by degrees, but q« 
rapidly as-cpnsists with safety, the remaining mounds and de- 
fences agamst foreign interference? Until the arrival of a 
state of wings under which these may all be abolished, Eng- 
land can hardly hope to employ her silk-looms in the service 
of foreign countries ; but" if it be desirable, — and who can 
dispute that it is sol — ^to export .our silks in company with 
our cotton manufactures, woulc[ it not, by excitiilg emulaticm, 
accelerate that event, if it were known that eveiy coming 
year some abatement, would be mqde from the scale of pror 
tecting duties, until they ^uld \S$ wholly aboTished? If the 
foregomg statements, carefully as they mivB been collected 



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84 SILk MANITFACTUBE. BAST f. 

mod examined, should be thought entitled to credit, the do^ 
«t pfresent levied upon foreign manufactured silk goods is, m 
most cases, double what is needed to place the. productioiis 
of France upcm an equality with our own ; and if this diqiro- 
portion has arisen, as is believed to be the fact, since the ar- 
ranfirement of the rates, and the openin£of our marJcets to 
fi)reign manufactured silks, in the year 1826, does it not oSa 
reasons sufficient for revision and abatement, while it hdds 
out the certain prospect of further and progressive opportuni- 
ties lor reduction, until, under their abolition, the British aSk 
manuftcturers will become, firsts undimmted masters of oor 
home markets, and next artificers fi>r others? 

The duties now chargeable upon the importatkni of raw, 
thrown, and manufiicturod silks, as well as the drawback re- 
coverable on^ re-exportation, may be fbund in the foUowing 
table:— 

£ B. I 

Knubs, or hudtt of nlk, and warte of ttlk, the cwt ^ O 10 

Raw silk, the lb. -.. O 1 

Thrown tilk, not dyed, namely — 

Singlet, the lb. \ l> 1 « 

Tram^dielb. S 

Organzineand crapdsilk, thelb. 3 6 

Thrown silk, dyed, namely — 

Singlei,ortram,thalb. .; ^ 30 

Organzine, or crape tilk, the lb. 5 S 

>fanufiicturefl of silk, or of silk mixed with aily other mate> 
rial, namely- 
Silk or satin, i^iBLin, the lb. .H 11 

or, and at tne option of the officers of the customs, for 

every 1002. of the value 25 

Silkor satin, figured 9r brocaded, the lb. 15 

4>r, and at the option of the officers of the customs, for 

every 1002. of the value ^.. 30 

Gauze, plain, the IK..., 17 

or, and at the option of the officers of the customs, for 

every 1002. of^the value 30 

Gauze, striped, figured, or bro4sded, the lb. 1 7 6 

or, and at the option of the officers of the customs, for 

every 1002. of the value 30 

Velvet, plain, the lb... 12 

or, ana at the option of the officers of the customs, for 

every 1002. of the value 30 O 

Velvet, figured, the lb. « » ...., ..%. 17 6 

or, and at the option c^ the officers of the customs, for 

every 1002. of the value :... 30 f) 

Ribands, embossed or figured with velvet the lb. « . . 17 

or, and at the option of the officers of the customs, for 

every lOOL oT the value. 30 O 

. And further, if mixed with gold/silver, or other metal in 
addition to the above rates, when the duty is not chaifed 
accordingto the value ...;. 10 



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£ $, d. 

Fancy Bilk, net or tricot» the lb. ..., 1-4 

I^lain silk lace^or net, called tnlle, the square yard 1 4 

Manufactores of silk, or of :i6lk mix^.with any other ma- 
terial, the produce of and imported fiom places within 
the limits df the £a0t India Company's charter, fi>r every 

ICKK. of the value 20 

Milliner]^ of siil^ or of which the greater part of the mate- 
rial is of silk, namefy-— . 

Turimns or caps, each.. 15 & 

Hats or bonnets, each..... 1 .5 

Dre9se6^^49Mh \ ..- 2 io- 

or, and at the option of the ofiBcMS of the customs, £>r 

every 100{. of the value .40 

MB]iiifiietures<^8ilk,or of silk and anyodier material, net 
particuhtfly enumerated, orotherwise charged with dut^ 

^ ior every 100^ (^ the value 30 00 

Articles of manufacture of silk, or of silk and any other 
material, wholly or part made up, not particularly enu- 
merated, or otherwise charged with dutf , fer every 1002. 
of the value r, ^..... .......,..;..; ^ 

Drawback is allowed, as under, on the exportation of silk 
manufactured goods, its gross amoimt being limited to tibe 
amount of duties previously paid on fiqeign thrown silk, as 
has already been explained : — 

£ M. <r. 

Fot every pound weight of mailufiictured goods, composed of 



eryi 
only. 



silkonly ; -, 8 6 

FiM" every poimd weight of silk and cottoii mixed, whereof 

one half at the least shall JiM nlk 1^ 

For every pound weightofsilk and worsted mixed, whereof . . 

one half at the least shall be silk 7 

To throw additional obstacles in the way of smuggling, th^ 
importation of foreign wrought silk goods is restricted to the 
ports of London, Duolin, and Dover ; and can only ^be effected 
m vessels c^ at least seventy tons burthen, except when 
brought direct from Calais to Dover, for whiqh trade, vessels 
that are coily of sixty tons bmrthen may be licensed by^the 
lords of tbe treasury, or by the commissionerB of his majesty's 
custoHia. 

H 



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M BUM UAKvrAcrtmm mkwt n> 

PART n* 

ON TBB CULTURB OF fSOJL 

C^HAPTER L 

M TBM OVLTVRK CT THB MULBBBBT TKnk 

OftibraU SpeeiMof tlie Mnlbeiry Tne.~OoBp|«rative Onalities •• Fooi ftr 
flilkworaM.— 8oU and titttatioB mott fliTor«bl« for iu Growtta.— Manaar^f 
rsiffinf it.— From Seed.— From CuUiiigs.—Iiigraftiiif«— Number of lotii 
of BUkwoqna annuallj reared in different Countries.- Nutritive Claalitiei 
of tlie Mulberry Leaf— Preservation of Leavea.—auantity of Leave* llM 
may be annuaOy taken from one Tree.— The Mulberry Leaf sacred fa tbt 



Tm firat object of attoiitioii» preparalory to any extenom 
i^tempt for the prodtictkm of ulk* must be the culture of the 
mulberry tree, uie leaves of which form the sole subsisteiiee 
of the silkworm. 

This treok the moru$ of botanists, is a genus of the tetzao- 
dria ovder, belonging to the monceia class of plants. limMetn 
enumerates seven distinct species of the mulberry tree. 

The Nigra, or black-fruited species, is weU loniown in thii 
country, and much prized for the fruit which it so abondantly 
bears. Any particular description of it here would be super- 
fluous. 

The Alba, or white-iruited mulberry, difiers fiom the nim 
in having its stem straig^ter, and its bark smoother and ^ t 
lighter color. Its leaves are likewise smoother, thinner, much 
smaller, and of a lighter green. The fruit, which is of a pale 
gray color, is small, of a vapid sweetness, and of no value. 

The Rubra, or red Virginia mulberry tree, difiers but Irttk 
from the alba, except in tiie red color of its fhiit 

The Tartarica, or Tartarian species, abounds on the banks 
of the Volga and the Tanab. 

The Papyfera, or paper mulberry, differs fhxh the other 
qpecies in having palmated leaves. From the bark of iti 
branches the Japanese ]^pare their paper. Its leaves are 
also used as food for the silkworm, far which purpose, the tree 
is BOW successfully cultivated in France.* 

The two remaining species, the Tinctoria and Indica, tie 
not osad fbr the nourishment of the •ilkworm.t 

^NotelL t Note 8. 



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J 



CBAT^ U imLTURB OV THB MULBXSBY TRSS. 87 

The mulberry tree k hardy, of qtiick growth, and easfl;^ 
.naturalized in all climates. The black species has always 
been cultivated for its fniit in Europe. The white sort comes 
fivun India, whence it has been mtroduced into all those 
western countries which have attempted the culture of edik.* 

'tbib respective qualities of the different species, as con- 
nected with the silkworm, cannot be better pointed out than 
by observing, that if leaves (^ the white, the red, and the 
bladL mulberry be ^vren at the same time to the insect, it 
will eat first the white, next tlie red, and lastly the black, in 
the carder of the tenctemess of the leaves. The Tartarian 
seems to hold as high a place in its esteem as either the red 
or hiack kind : all, however, ^ive place to the white, which* 
as it came origmally fi-om Chma, would appear to be its inosi 
natural food. 

Most writers oa the subject affirm that the white mulberry 
is always used in China, while some fow assert that the 
Chinese now feed their silkworms on the Tartarian species. 

The white sort is generally planted for this purpose in 
Europe, its leaves being more eagerly desired by the worms^ 
The trees of this species likewise possess the advantage of 
coining into leaf a fortnight earlier than the black, for which 
reason the e^gs may be hatched earlier in the spring, and the 
cares of rearing the Insect^ are not prolonged too far into the 
hottest season. The white mulberry tree is likewise of 
ciuicker growth, is not so much injured by the constant pluck- 
ing of its leaves, nor is it, like the Mack, incommoded by a 
great quandtv of fruit The best reason, however, if it be 
correct, that lias been given for preferring it, is, that the silk 
of worms which feed upon its leaves is finer than where other 
kinds are substituted. Count Dandolo has, indeed, founds that 
the quality of the filament does not solely depend upon the 
food of the insect, but is also influenced by the degree of 
temperature in which it is reared. 

In, cold climates, the black thrives better than the white 
mulberry. It likewise bears double the quantity of leaves 
suitable-for food.f In Persia the silkworm is nouririied alto- 
|[ether by leaves of the black i^)ecies. In Granada, where 
nlk of an excellent quality is produced, the same system is 
followed. Swinburne, who travelled in Calabria in 1784, re- 
lates that the red species ;was there' ffenerally jpreferred, be- 
cause the leaves, not appearing untu ten oc fourteen days 
later than those of the white mulberry, are therefore less sub- 

•NotoT. tNotsU. 



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68 «tt.K MANTTPACTUKlE. PART It. 

Ject to injury by frost This reason for its oreference is in 
other climates assigned as the cause of its rejection. 

The roots of the mulberry tree strike verjr deep into the 
ground, so that the surface not being impoverished as it is by 
many trees, whose roots are found more in the upper soil, 
other kinds of cultivation may be prosecuted around it Nei- 
ther its shade, nor the dropping of rain from its leaves, is con- 
sidered prejudicial to plants growing beneatL ' 

Moist lands in vallejrs and near rivers induce a very rapid 
growth in the tre^ ; but their leaves contain, in such situa- 
tions, too much watery matter, and, though eaten voraciou^y, 
are. hurtful to the worms from their comparative want of 
nouridunent The labors of the insects are also delayed, and 
the quality <rf liieir produce injured, by the weakness of con- 
stitution resulting from this cause. 

Trees in dr)j soils give ffewer leaves, but any deficieilcy in 
their quantity is amply compensated by the greater nutriment 
which they afS>rd, and, as a necessary ccmsequence, by th^ 
superior' quality of the silk produced. 

It is remarked by Mayet, that the -quality of the ralk de- 
pMids upon that of the midberry leaves consumed, '* which 
are then to, be considered as being only a mine worked by 
the worms; and this mine is nK)re or less proper to furnish 
the fine substance, according to the soil and climate." 

The mulberry tree is readily raised, either by cuttings, by 
.layers, or by seed. In countries where the seed must be 
saved until the favorable season for sowing, it diall come 
round, the process is both troublesome and difficult Pullein, 
who wrote in tiie year 1758, gives very elaborate directions, 
which he considers necQpsaryfor properly saving and pre- 
paring the seed. In climates where this delay in sowing is 
not necessary, the operation is more simple. The ^an pur- 
sued in France is curious : it is thus described : — ** Take the 
ripe berries when they are full of juice and seeds. Next 
take a rough horse-hair line, or rope such as we dry linen on, 
and with a good handful of ripe mulberrifes, run your hand 
along the Ime, bruising the berries and madiing them as 
much as possible as your hand runs along, so that the pulp 
and seed of the hemes may adhere in great abundance to the 
rc^ or hair line. Next dig a trench in the ground where 
you wish to plant them, much likfe what is practised in kitchen 
gardens in England for crops of various kind& N6xt cut'the 
rope or hair line into lengths, according to the length of the 
trench you think ^t to mate, ahd plunge the line full of 
mashed berries into the trenph; then cover it well ov6r with 



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€»▲?• U CVVrVMM OP THfe IfirUiKSY TBKX. 99 

eaith^ always reai^mb^ii^ afterwards to water it well, 
which is essential to success. The seeds of the berries thus 
sown will grow, and^non idioot out suckers, which will bear 
young leaves, which are the best food for the silkworm. The 
fiusility and rapidity with which young leaves ma^ by this 
means be produced, is evident ; for as many rows of trenches 
can thus he filled as can be wished ;. and it can never be ne- 
cessary to have mulberry trees higher than our raspberry, 
currapt, or gooseberry bushes. Whenever they get beyond 
that, they lose their value ; and if these bninchei succeed, 
you may have a supply coming fresh up day after day, or any 
qoanti^ you please.^ 

Sqaitf and slugs are fimnd to be very destructive to the 
young mulbenry shoots, committing great devastations tn a 
short p«nod. In moist seaiK»s, a ymM nursery is sometimes 
threatened by them with ruin. To protect the tender plant 
from this evil, it is recommended to surround the beds or 
trenches with dry soot or ashes, sprinkling it aftesh after 
tain. This protection might beMvantageously adopted with 
other i^antations, as slugs will not pass over such a fence, &h 
pecia% while it is dry«- 

In England, and countries of similar temperature, seed- 
lings will not attain a greater height than three inches in the 
first year. In "warmer climates their growth is much more 
rnpid ; so that in some parts of India large quantities of seed- 
are sown, whose crops are mowed down in the ensuinsf 
season as fi)od for silkworms. Sprouts again spring forth 
firom the roots the same year, and are used for a secona brood. 
The silk produced by worms fed on these tender shoots is 
supposed to be readily distinguishable, by its superiority over 
that produced when the insect is fed on the leaf of the fiill 
grown mulberry tree. 

Plants which are raised from seed require transpl an tation 
at the end oi the third year, to induce the spreading of the 
root Without this removal they would acquire only one 
lootf like^a pivot, and would be liiu>le to various casualties on 
that acoowtt. Some cultivators bdieve that it assists thisr 
branching out of roots, if the plants are cut even with tbs 
ground at the end of the second year. 

The most easy and expeditious way of nmnft mulberry 
tiees is from cattings. Although as great a number cannot 
so readily be raised m this manner as from seed^ there is a 
great advantage in point of strength as well as in the rapidity 
^ their growSi. This method of propagation is much mctf« 
saccessfiil in moist add temperate climes than m such as ar« 



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exposed to the arid heat of the bwer lfttitude& Cuttfnga 
will put forth shoots of ahout &ve or six inches in Ieng& 
during the first summer, and will, at the same time, be pro- 
Tiding themselves with roots. If they have put ftnth shooits, 
and preserve their leaves until the aotumn, the i^ants will 
Ifenendly succi^sed : any which have failed to do so must be 
replaced by other cuttings. In the course of the ensuing 
0fSnng and snmmer, if carefully watered, the shoots wiO 
frequently attain the length of eighteen inches. In the aa- 
tumn following the beds nmst be .thinned, aikl the redundant 
sailings planted ont 

Mulberry plantations which are formed in France and Italy 
consist of large standard trees. This is a very inconvenient 
method; as the leaves^^annot be gathered but by the aid of 
kdders, and Hy elimbing among Sie branches. In this way 
the trees maj sustain much injury; besides which a great 
deal of time iS unneeessarily wasted in reaching the leaves^ 
which then are seldom gathered with regularity, 

Du Halde, in his history oPChina, relates that tiie Chinese 
mm pastiealar so to place and to prune thj^riniilberr^ trees, 
that the leaves may be gathered in the earnest manner, and 
without risk of damage to the treiM. * These are, with this 
view, cut in a hollow form, without any mtersecttng braoy^es 
in the middle ; scr that a person going loond the tree may 
l^her all the outside leaves, and afterwards, l^ standinf 
wit^inside, and merely turning round to the-d^le^'eBt parts, 
may pluck the leaves ^wing within. The trees are not 
allowed to grow to any great height; so that each pee forips 
ft sort ^f round hedge, and may 1^ reached t^yonghoot with* 
out climbing on its branches. 

PuUein ^tves very ample directions for formmg and reaiw 
ing plantations of mulberry trees. His work has been o6ik 
aitoed one of high authority, and may be profitably coosilltt 
ed by any who require xaofre minute information than it ^ 
desirable to fumisK in this volnme. 

Ingrafting iscon^dered to be one of the surest methods 
of obtaining nutritious leaves from mnlberry tteeB, Monsieur 
Bourgecns observes, that mulberries ingrafted on wild stocks^ 
when the graft is chosen from a good kind, such as the ross^ 
leaved or the Spani^ midberry, prodt^e leaves which aro 
much m<»e beautiful, and of much better quality for fbec&ig 
silkworms^ than such as are ingrafted on the commbn i^ 
stock. The same obsorvatioft has been mnde W Monsieur 
Thome, whose authority is of the greatest w^jpA in what- 



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"^ 



CHAP, t* CULTURB OF TSR KULBSBSY TRCIi!. ft 

ever relates to tjie rearing oC silkworms, to which object he 
devoted forty years of his life. 

Although ingrafted mulberries certainly produce a greater 
number of leaves than the^ wild trees, and these leaves are 
thought to contain more nourishment to the insect, yet. the 
wild tree has an advantage over that which is ingrafted, in 
its superior lon^vity. The former has been known to exist 
for two centuries; while the increased quantity of leaves 
produced by ingrafting causes a premature dissipation of the 
sap of the tree, and accelerates its decay. -Monsieur Pornier, 
in a treatise which he has written upon the subject, recom- 
mends that white should be ingrafted on black mulberries ; 
and the reason urged for the adoption of this plan is, thal^ tbd 
white species commonly decays first in the root, while tfbe 
black is not subject to any disease. I 

The more attention that is bestowed upon the tree, by 
dressing and pruning the overgrown branches, the ffreifer 
abundance of good leaves will it ftimish. It is very nur^ul 
to the trees to strip them when too young, because leaves are 
orgfans which ftilfil important ftmctions in plants; cont^b# 
utmg greatly to tfieir nutrition by absorbing vessels, which 
imbibe moisture firom the air. The leaves may be saibly 
jpithered afl«r the fifth year. Mulberry trees are so pl^n* 
teoa«ly stored, with sap, tliat they sometimes renew their 
leaves twice or thrice in the same year. When the winier . 
Ihas be«i mild, they put forth leaves very early ; but it is kV 
frays dangerous, in any but hot climates, to accelerate the 
jx/£dhms of the worms in expectation of this event : for no 
Reaves Aould be depended on till the beginning of May, as 
^those which appear prior to this period are exposed to desU-ilc- 
f^ipn fioiQ fi-ost 

Accordmg to Monsieur Nollet, the inhabitants of Tu^canf , 
i^Bpecially in the neighboriiood of Florence, do not cuhimte 
lialf as many inulberry trees as the Piedmolitese, in Pfopoir 
tion to the number of silkworms reared and the quantity or 
;8ilk produced. This economy is realized by causing tiie 
worms to be hatched at two separate penods. The first 
brood is fed on the first leaves of the earing; and when 
these worms have -gone throi^ their progiressions, and have 
produced silk, other eggs are hatched, and the insects are 
nourished by a second crop of leaves fiimidied by the sam« 
trees. This jdan is followed in China, where two crops cf 
.silk are obtamed in the year f and it has been said that in 
some other parts of Asia aa many as twelve broods of worms 
'iax9. reared 19 the course of ono jenfi In the Me of Fianee 



igitipdbyCjOOQlC 



02 stuc ■AmTFAonma. PAsrn. 

Momieiir CImztd obtmmed three generatkms- between the 
months of December and May ; the mulberry tree there, at 
well as in India, aflbrding fresh leaves throagh the whole 
year. 

Coont Dandolo is of ofmiion that in Italy it is disadvantage- 
cos %o obtain more than one cit>p in each season. He afSmqfi 
that the mulberry tree cannot bear this constant 8tripi»ng fif 
its leaves without injury. ** All things considered/* sayv ke, 
** I am well persuaded that one of our good crops will be 
eoutl in produce to any number that may be gathered else> 
where in a year.** It is observed that the <|uality^ the silk 
pbtained in Italy from their second racoUa m always infoior 
to that from the first brood of worms. 

The Persian cultivat<nra.are accustomed, from a motive of 
economy, to feed silkworms upon bous^is of the mulberry 
tree, instead of using the leaf separately, as is practised in 
all temperate climates. The leaves, continuing attached to 
the branches, remain longer fresh, have a better flavor, and 
are more nutritious, than those separately gathered, and the 
silkworms feed from the branches with less waste than when 
the leaves are strewn singly over them. 

In estimating the qualities of the mulberry \ea£, as reganls 
nutrition, it should be considered as being composed or Are 
di^erenC substances. The solid or fibrous, the saccharinei 
and the resinous substances, >vater, and coloring matter. 

The fibrous substance, water, and coloring mattery cannot 
be said to contribute towards Uie nourishment of the silk- 
worm. The saccharine matter is that whicfi sustain? the in- 
sect, causes its increase in size^and goes to the fbrmat^Rn of 
its animal substance, l^e resinous substance, acc(Mrdia(g to 
count Dandolo, is that which, ^ separating itself gradniUy 
from the leaf; and attracted by the animaTorganizaticMi, ao- 
comiilates, clears itself and insensibly fills the two reservmn 
OK silk vessels. According to the different proportions of Urn 
elements which compose the leaf, it follows, that cases may 
occur in which a greater weight of leaf may joeld less that 
i» usefiil to the silkwcntUr as well for its nourishment, aa 
with' respect to the quantity of silk obtained finom the animal** 

To complete the development of thie silkworm, the <]uan- 
tity of leaves consumed must bear relation to the nutrimenl 
they contain. It is therefore important, that leaves contain- 
ing the most nutriment should be supplied to the insect, aa it 
is more fiitigued and more liable to disease firom devouring 
many leaves, than it would be if an equdl quantity of noor- 
jshaient wmv supplied by ibweir leaves containing more sao- 



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J 



CHAP. I* CVLTVUE OF THB imiLBEBKY TBSE. 9S 

charine salN°[taiice. A^in, if this abounds in the leaf, and 
the resinous substance is not found united with it in sufficient 
quantity, tlie worm will, it is true, thrive and grow, but will 
not proauce silk proportionate to its weight. 

In some parts of Italy and France, mulberry leaves are 
commonly sold by weight in the market, and tiiose persons 
who rear silkworms are often \dioll]^ dependent on this source 
for a supply. Judgment and experience ar6 recpired in the 
purchaser, to enable him to make a proper selection of leaves, 
choosing such as are of a nourishing quality, and rejecting 
those whose sale would, from their greater weighty be more 
profitable to the vender. The interests of the two parties 
are c(Nisequently at variance. In other places, trees are 
hired fi>r the season ; from four to six francs, according to its 
size and condition* being paid fer the hire dt each tree. - Un^ 
der equal circumstances, an old mulberry tree always yidds 
better leaves than a young one ; and whatever may he the 
original quality of the tree, as it erows older the leaf wiU^ 
<Kminifib m size, and will so materially improve, that at length 
it will attain to a very excellent quality. 

It is of importance that the a£e of me leaves should keep 
pace with that of the worms. The young leaf, bein^ replete 
with aqueous matter, provides for the great evaporation eot^ 
tinually proceeding from the body of the young worm ; while 
the mature leaf contains a larger proportion of solid nutritive 
matter, better suited to the wants of the insect* at its more^ 
advanced age. To give old leaves to young worms, or young 
leaves to old worms, would be alike prejudicial 

The greatest care must be taken to prevent the leaves be-^ 
coming heated or fermented. The nutritious substance of 
the leaf is altered and injured by the slightest fermentation, 
and it becomes too stimulating for the health of the worm. 
It is also essential that the leaves be given to the insects 
perfectly dry; contagious and fatal diseases will otherwise 
ensue. 

It is considered tliat a well-cultivated mulberry tree should 
yield, in each season, about thirty pounds of good leaves. -It 
10 not uncommon in the south of Prance to see large trees 
which win furnish five times thfs quantity. • 

It is said that no insect excepting the silkworm will feed 
on the mulbernr leaf. PuUem tried the speckled hairy cater- 
pillar, which feeds on the nettle, as well as several other 
kinds of msects, but they all rejected the mulberry l^if for 
Iheii food. Once,, indeed, he discovered upon a mulberry 
tree a green worm, about an meh long, and as thick as an 



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94 tILK MAKUFACTUBE* PART IX* 

oftt itmw. He ecmfined it In a box, and feA bis prisoner with 
mulberry leaves. Pullein believes that it was hot a i|i|tfe 
of the tree, but found itself there accidentally whea it was 
taken. During the continued observation of three years^ 
BlisB Rhodes never once found an insect upon the leaves 
used by her. Other fruit trees and vegetables in the same . 
garden were sometimes covered by myriads of insects, 
while the mulberry tree, surrounded by these ravagers, re- 
mained sacred from their depredations. Not even the 
aphides invade this tree, exclusively devoted 'to the toe of 
the silkworm. 



CHAP. n. 

i>lK»tIPTIOir OV THE MLKWCttM. 



Vaiiooi Changea of tbe Worm.— Its ■mall desire of loeomotion. — afamitg 
of emttinc ita ExuviflB.— Sometimei cannot be fully accomplished. iQiir 
sequent Death of the Insect.— Prccress of its Eiistenoe.— Material «f 
which its Silk u^rmed.— Mode of its Secretion.— Manner of BninoiBf. 
—Floss Klk.— Tlie Cocoon. — Its Imperviousness to Moisture. — Tramiht- 
mation of a Worm into a Chrysalis.- Periods in which its various Fro> 
greasions are efiected in diflSsrent Climates.— Bflfeots of Increased Temptf- 
atare.— Modes of Artificial Heatiof.— Coming forth of the Moth.— Man- 
ner of its'Extrication.-^Iacrease in Weight and Bulk of the Silkworm. 
— Numbe)* of Ens produced.— Length, etc. at diflbrent Ages.— Silk- 
worms inJuriooMv aflteted by Change of Climate.— Varieties of Silk- 
I.— Small Worms.— Large Species.— Produce yielded by the 



Thk silkworm, or bomb3rx, is a species of caterpfllar 
which, like all other insects of the same class, undereooi a 
variety of changes during the short period of its am s af- 
Buming, in each of three successive transformations, a i^rm 
whoUv dissimilar to that with which it was previously in- 
vested. ' 

Among the great variety of caterpillars, the descr^ddki 
cf which are to be found in the records of natural hwtoiiri 
the silkworm occupies a place &r above the rest Not only 
is our attention called to the examination of its various 
transformations, by the desire of satisfj^iu^ our curiosity as 
entomologists, but our artificial wants incite us likewise to 
the fttudy of iti nature and habits, that we may best aad 
most pnmtably apjdy its instinctive industry to our own ad- 
vantage. 

It 1ms been well observed by a writer aa this subject, that 
^ there is scarcely au7 thing among the various wondeni 



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whiefi the animal creation aflbrds, more admkable than the 
variety oi changes which the silkworm undergoes ; but the 
curious texture of that silken covering with which it sur- 
rounds itself when it arrives at the perfection of its animal 
life, vastly surpasses what is made 1^ other animals of this 
class. Ail the caterpillar kind do, indeed, undergo ehangeid 
like those of the silkworm, and the beauty of many of them 
in their butterfly state greatly exceeds it; but the covering 
"which they put on before this change into a fly is pooir and 
mean, when compared to that golden tissue m which the 
silkworm wraps itself^ They, indeed, con^e forth in a va- 
riety of c(^rs, their wings l>edropped with gold and scarlet, 
yet are they but the beings of a summer's day ;' both their 
life and beautr quickly vanish, and they leave po reraent- 
brance after tliem ; but the silkworm leaves bdrind it isoch 
beautiful, such beneficial monuments, as at once record botll 
tiie wisdom of 'their Creator and his bounty to man.*^ 

Silkworms proceed from eggs which are deposited during 
Ibe summer by a grayish kind of moth, oithe genus phalens. 
These eg^ are alxmt equal in size to a grain of mustard- 
seed : their color when first laid is yellow ; but in three or 
feur days after, they acquire a bluii^ cast In temperate cli- 
mates, and by uping proper precautions, these e^^ may be 
preserved during the winter and spring, without risk of pr^ , 
mature hatching; The period of their animation may be ac- 
celerated or retarded by artificial means, so as to agree with 
the time when the natural food of the insect shall appear in 
sufficient abundance for its support 

The whole of the curious changes and labors Which ao 
company and characterize the life cf the silkworm are per- 
formed within the space of a very few weeks. This period 
varies, indeed, according to the climate or temperature in 
which its life is passed ; all its vitid functions bemg quicken- 
ed, knd their duration proportionally abridged, by warmth. 
With this sole variance, its progressimis are alike in all clir 
mates, and the same mutations accompany its course. 

T%e three successive states of being put cm by this insect 
are, that of the worm or caterpillar, t&t of the ctnysalis or 
aurelia, and tiiat of the moth. In additi(:a] to these more 
decided transformations, tiie progress of the silkworm in its 
cateroillar state is marked by five distinct sti^ges c^ beings. 

When first hatched, it appears as a smtm black wonn 
about a quarter of an indi in fenjgth. Its first indication of 

«liilM]i, 



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06 9UJL MANUFAC^FSifcB. r AST 9 

animatioa is the desire which it eyiiH^s for ohtamin^ fea^ 
in search of which, if not immediately supplied, it wiU iOf 
hibit more power of locomotion than characterizes it 9^ «iiy 
other period. So small is the desire of change on the pirt 
of these insects, that pf the generality it may be sai^ th^ 
own i^ntaneous will seldom leads them to travel ovet^ a 
.greater ^Mice than^three feet throughout the whole duzstioa 
X)f their lives. Even when hungry, the worm still clings to 
the skeletcm ot the leaf from, which its nourishment was last 
derived. If, by the continued cravings of. its appetitSy k 
should be^at len^ incited to the effort necessary for c]Miim|w 
ing its position, it will sometimes wander as far as the e^e 
x>f the tray wherein it is confined, and some few have be^ 
found sufficiently adventurous to cling to. its rim ; but the 
smell of fresh leaves will instantly allure them back, h 
would add incalculably to the labors and cares of their at- 
tendants, if silkworms were endowed with a 'more rambUs^ 
disposition. So useful is. this peculiarity of their nature, that 
one is irresistibly tempted to ccnsider it the result of design, 
«md a part of that beautiful system of the fitnesa of things, 
which the student of natural history has so many opp(»tn- 
nities of contemplating with delight and admiration. 

In about eight days fn»n its being hatched, its head be- 
comes perceptibly larger, and the wOTm is attacked by its 
first :slckne8s. This lasts for three days ; during which time 
it refuses food, and remains motionless in a kind of lethargy. 
Some have tdought this to be sleep, but the fatal terminatioo 
which so frequently attends these sicknesses seems tp aifi>rd 
a denial to this ^supposition. The silkworm increases its size 
so considerably, and in so short a space of time, — ^its weight 
being multiplied many thousand fold in the course of one 
month, — ^that if only one skin had been assigned to it, which 
should serve for its -whole caterpillar state, this skin wouJd 
with difficiilty have distended itself sufficiently to keep pace 
with the insect's growth. The economy of nature has there- 
fore admirably provided the embryos of oth^r skins, destined 
to be successively Qalled into use ; and this sickness of the 
worm, and its disinclination for food, may very pn^bly be 
occasioned by the pressure of the skio, now become too sma& 
far the body which it encases. 

At the end of the third day from its first refusal c^ find* 
the animal appears, on that account, much wasted in itB 
bodilv firame ; a circumstance which materially assists in te 
painml operation of casting its skin's this^ it now proceeds to 
acc<mipli8h. To fkcilitate this inpulting, a sort of humor is 



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9H4P*ix. . ^is aoLXwoBst. 97 

thrown oflTby tlie worm, whioh, spreading between its body 
taiA the skin about to be abandoned, Inbricates their surfiices, 
and causes them to separate more oceaEdily. The insect also 
emits firom its body silken traces, which, adhering to the ^pot 
on which it rests, serve to confine the skin to its then exist- 
mg position. These pr^minafy steps seem to call ibr some 
eonsideraUe exertion, as after them the worm remains quiet 
for a abort space, to recover from its fatigue. It thmi mo- 
cee^ by rubbing its head among the leafy fibres sunrounoinff 
it, to disencumber itself of the scaly covering. Its next ^ 
&at is to^l»eak through the skin nearest to the head, ivJnck^ 
as it is there the snuillest, calls for the greatest e)ceition; 
and no soimer is this accompti^ed and the two front le|8 are 
disengaged, than the remainder of the body is (Quickly dmwn 
forth, the skin remaining fastened -to the spot m the manner 
already described. 

This moultiuff is so complete, that not only is the whole 
ooverinff of the l)o4y cast off, but that of the^feet, of the en- 
tire skiuU and even the jaws, including the teeth. These 
several p^irts may be discerned by the unassisted eye, but be- 
come very apparent when viewed through a magniQ^g lens 
of moderate power. 

In two or three minutes fit)m the beginning of iti eflbrts 
the worm is wholly freed, and again puts on me appearance 
of health and vi^r, feeding with recruited appetite upon its 
leafy banquet It sometimes happens that the outer skin re- 
fuses to detach itself wholly, but breaks and leaves an annu- 
lar portion adhering to the extremity of its body, firom which 
all the struggles of the insect cannot wholly disengage it 
The pressure thus occasioned induces swelling and inflammar 
tion m other parts of the body, and, after e^rts of greater or 
lees duration, death generally terminates its suflfering^s. 

Worms newly fr^ fVom their extxvi«e are easuy distin- 
goished firom others by the pole color and wrinkled appeaiv 
anoe of their new skin. This latter quality, however, soda 
disappears, through the repletion and growth of the insect, 
which contmues to feed during ^e day& At this time ka 
Jength will be increased to half an inch ; when it is attacked 
by a second sickness, followed by a second moultingv the 
manner of performing which is exactly similar to that already 
described. Its appetite tiien agaui retqms, and is indnl^ 
durhig oth^ five days, during which time its length m- 
ereases to three qnarters of an "inch: it then nndergoea ^ 
third sickness and moultmg. These bemg past, in all re- 
elects like the former, and Iva more ^ys of foediag havinf 



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SUM MANCTACrVRlS. 



fAitrif 



^followed* it is seized by its fomtfa sickness, and casts its ahM 
for the last time in the OAterpillar state. The worm is now 
about one and a half or two inches long. This last change 
completed, the silkworm devours its ^>d most voradoofify^ 
and increases rapidly in size during ten days. 

The silkworm has now attained te its fuft gl>owtfa, and is s 
slender, cc^eirpillar from two and a half to three inches in 
len^fth. The peculiarities of its struetuz^ may be better ex* 
atinmed now than in its earlier stages. It can readily be 
seen* that the worm has twelve membranous rings round ils 
body, pairaliel to each other, and which, ^mswerin^ to the 
movementr of, the animal, mutually contract and ^oogate* 
It has sixteen legs, in pairs : six in front, which are covered 
wfth a sort of sli^ll or scale, are placed under the three ^sl 




rmgs, and cannot be either seni^^ lei^gthened, or their pik 
sitioift altered. The other ten legs are caHed hdders : ttor 
are membnnous, flexible, and attached to die body under te 
rin^ These holders are furnished with little hooks,- viyeb 
assist /the inseet in climbing. The skuU is inclosed in a scaly 
substance, miilar to the coverii^ of ^lei first six l^s; T^ 
jaws are kdent^ ot serrated' like l^e teeth of a saw, and 
their streng^ is great considering the size of the insect Its 
mouth is peccdiar, Mvin^ a verl^eal instead of a horisxaitai 
wpertme; and the worm is farni^ed with eighteen breat^aff 
MeSf placed at equal distances^ down 1^ body, mne on ea» 
Each of -these- holes is [Supposed to be the termination 



'* The scale on which the vtornis, cocoons, chrysalii, and notha are reprt^ 
mted, it two thinle their aeual naitiina tixe; 



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CKAP. n. 7HB SILKWOR>f« W 

iji a pavtiofilar organ of respiration. On eieh aiido^ of the 
head," near to the moutht seven small e^^s may be discerned. 
The two broad appearances higher upon the head, which are 
frequently mistaken for ey^es, are bones of the skulL The 
two apertures through which the worm draws its silky sub- 
stance are placed just beneath the jaw, and close to each 
other. These orifices are exceedin'^ly minute. 

At the period above-mentioned the desire of Uie worm fat 
€x>d begins to abate : the first symptom of this is the appear- 
ance of the leaves nibbled into minute portions, and wasted.^ 
It sooB after this entirely ceases even to touch the mulberry 
leaves; iqppears restless and uneasy; erects its head; and 
moves about, from side to side, with a circular motion, in 
^ae|ll of a place wherein it can commence its lalior of spin- 

n. Its color is now light green, with some mixture of a 
er hue. In twenty-rour hours from the time of its ab- 
staining from food, the material for forming its silk will be 
4iffested in its reservoirs ; its^ green color wul disappear ; itf 
b(»y wiU have acquired a degree of glossiness, and will 
have become somewhat transparent towards its neck. Before 
the worm is quite prepared to spin, its body will have ac- 
^red greater firmness, and be somewhat lessened in size. 

The substance of which the silk is composed is secreted in 
the form of a fine yellow transparent gum in two s^nrate 
▼easels of slender dimensions, which are wound, as it were, 
m two spindles in the stomach : if unfolded, thisse vessels 
would be about ten inches in length. 

When the worm has fixed upon some angle, dr hollow 
place, whose dimensions agree with the size of its intended 
silken ball or coco(hi, it begins its labor by spinning th|n and 
iirreffular threads, which are intended to support its fiiture 
#iv^ling. During the first day, the insect forms up(m« these 
ikloose structure of an oval shape, which is called floss' silk, 
tM within which covering, in the three following days, it 
§»tD» the firm and consistent yellow ball; the laborer,- of 
course, always remaining on the inside of theN^kbere which 
k is forming.* 

The m^ material, which when drawn out appears to be 
aoe thread, k composed of two fibr^ extracted through the 
tmoim^eB before described; and these fibres are hnraght 
tofi^ther by means of two ho(^ placed within the silkworm's 
mouth for the purpose. The worm in spinning rests on its 
lower extremity throug^ut the operation, and emfdoys its 

♦ Vou V. 



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100 SILK MANUFACTURE. PART H. 

mouth and front legs in -tfie task of directing and ftstenmg' 
the thread. The filament is not spun in regular concentric 
circles round the interior surfiice of the ball, but in spota^ 
going backwards and forwards with a sort of wavy niotioii. 
This apparently irregular manner of proceeding is plainly 
perceptible when the silk is wound off the ball, which does 
not make more than one oir two entire revolutions while ten 
or twelve yards of silk are being transferred to the reel. 

At the end of the third or fourth day tlie worm will ham 
completed its task, and formed its cocoon. This has been 
compared iik shape and si^ to a pigeon's eg^. It is seldom^ 
however, that the ball attains to so great a size. In the fol- 
lowing representation the cocoons are drawn* two thirds of 
the usual size, and are shown with part of the outward or 
floss silk removed. 

Figr.2. 




When the insect has finished its labor of spinning, it 
smears the entire internal surfoce of the cocoon with a pe- 
cnUar kind of gum, very similar in its nature to the matter 
which forms the silk itself; and this is no doubt designed as 
a shield against rain for the chrysalis in its natural state, 
wl^en of course it would be subject to all varieties of weather. 
The sMken filament of which the ball is made up is likewise 
accompanied^ throughout its entire length, by a portion of 
gum, which serves to give firmness and consistency to its 
texture, and assists in rendering the dwelling of the cinrysa- 
lis impervious to moisture. This office it performs so wdl, 
that when, for the pui^p6se of reeling the silk with grei^er 
focility, the balls are thrown into basins of hot water, they 
^m on tha top with all t}ie buoyancy of bladders ; nor, un- 
less tiie ball be imperfectly formed, does the water penetrate 
within until the silk is nearlv ail unwound. 

The continual emission of the silken material during' the 
formation of its envelope, together with its natural evapora- 
tion, uncompensated by food, causes- the worm gradually to 
contract in bulk ; it becomes wrinkled, and the rings of its 



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cttAP. n. irau diiJtwoRM« 101 

liody approach neaier to each other and. nmeni more de- 
cidedly marked. When the formation of the ball is finished, 
the insect rests awhile from its toil, and then throws off its 
caterpillar garh If the cocoon be now opened, its inhabit- 
ant will appear in the form of a chrysalis or aurelia, in ^ape 
Pig-^ 3, somewhat resembiinff a kidney bean, but 
pointed at one end, having a smooth brown 
> skin. Its ^rmer covering,^ so dissimilar to the 
one now assumed, will be foadd lyiAg beside it 

The account which has been given of the progressions of 
the silkworm shows that, in its various modifications, the ani^ 
mal or^nization of the insect has been always tending to- 
wards Its simplification. Count Dandolo, writing upon this 
subject, observes, ** Thus the caterpillar ip in the first instance 
composed of animal, silky, and excremental particles; this 
^rms the state of the growing caterpillar : in the next staffe 
it is composed of animal and silky particles; it is then l£e 
mature caterpillar: and Jastly, it is reduced to the animal 
particles alone ; and is termed in this state tke chrysalisJ* 

In the foregoing description, definite periods have been as- 
ngned'to each age of the silkworm, in agreement with the 
6ct as most generally experienced in. the temperate. climates 
<^ Europe. It has already been noticed that the iMX)gression0 
of the insects are accelerated by an increase of temperature; 
and some variation will equally be experienced where difi^ 
ent modes of treatment are followed, and, in particular, where 
difilerent periods of the year are chosen in which to produce 
and rear the worm. Malpighius, in his " Anatomy of the 
Silkworm," says, that worms which he hatched in May were 
eleven days cAd ere they were attacked hy their first sick- 
ness; others hatched m Julv were ten days, and those 
brought forth in August nine days, before thev refused their 
fiiod, preparatory to their first moulting. Eight days appear 
to be the most usual term for their fii^ attack ; and by his 
judicious treatment count Dandolo shortened. even this term 
by two dajrfl. In Europe, except where recourse is had to 
artificial aid, the term of the insect's caterpillar state is 
usually that which has been^ alread)r mentioned. 

Dr. Anderson informs us, that in Madras the silkworai 
goea throu|^ its whole evolutions in the short space of 
twenty-two days. It appears, however, that the saving d 
time, and consequently of labor, is the only economy result- 
ing nt>m the acceleration ; as the insects consume as much 
fcod during their shorter neriod of life, ^as is assigned to tha 
jonger-lived silkworms of Europe, 



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102 SILK KAmrPACTUBX. PAS1> lU 

Sodden traontions from cold to heat, or firom heat to cold, 
are highly injurious to the silkworm ; but it can bear a very 
bi^h de^rree of heat, if uniformly maintained, without sus- 
taming mjury.* Count Dandolo t)bBerved, that " the greater 
the degree of heat in which it is reared, the more acute are 
its wants, the more rapid its pleasures, and the shorter its ex- 
istence.** Monsieur tfoissier de Sauvagues made many ex- 
periments on this point One' year, when by the early n^ 
pearance of the mulberry leaves, which were developed by 
the end of April, he was forced to hurry fbrward the opera- 
tions of his filature, he raised the heat of the apartment in 
which the newly-hatched worms were placed to 100° ; grad- 
ually diminishing this during their first and second a^es to 
95°. In consequence of the animal excitement thus induced, 
there elapsed only nine dajrs between the hatching and the 
second moulting inclusively. It was the general opinion of 
those cultivators who witnessed the experiment that the in- 
sects would not be able tt> exist in so intensely heated an at- 
mosphere. The walls of the apartment, and the wicker hnr- 
dies on which the worms were placed, could scarcely be 
touched without inconvenience, and yet all the changes and 
progressions wentTorward perfectly well, and a most abufi* 
dant crop of sflk was the result 

The same gentleman, on a subsequent occasion, exposed 
his brood to the temj^rature of 93° to 95° during their first 
age ; of 89° to 91° in the second age ; and remarked that 
the attendant circumstances were the same as in his former 
experiment, the changes of the worm beingr performed in the 
same space of time ; whence he came to the concluaon, that 
it is not practicaUe' to accelerate their progress beyond a 
certain point by any superadditions of heat In both diese 
experiments the quanti^ of food consumed was as great as 
is usually given during the longer period employed in Sie com- 
mon manner of rearing. After the second moulting had 
taken place in the last experiment, the temperature wai 
lowered to ^2° ; and it is remarkable that the worms occu- 
pied only ^ve days in ccnnpleting then- third and fourth 
changes, although others which had been accustomed to this 
lower degree mm their birth occupied seveta or eig^t days 
for each «f these moultings. It would therefore seem tluit 
the constitution of the insects can be afl^ted, and an impetus 
given to their functions at Hie period of their first animatioo, 
which accompanies them thfough th^ir after stages. So fitf 
fit>m thB forcing eystem proving infurious to the health of 
. nlkwonns, M. de Sauvagues fbimd ttMKt his broods were oo* 



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CHAP. n. THB SILKWbBM. lOt 

usually healthy; and that while the labors <^ cuhivatioii 
were abridged in their duration^ much of the t^ttendant anx- 
iety was removed. 

Like other caterpillars, the silkworm is not a Warm-blooded 
animal, and it|^ temperature is therefore always equal to that 
of the atmosphere in which it is'placed; In the silk-pro- 
ducing countries, where modes of artificial heating have not 
been studied practically and scientifically, as they have of 
late in England, the difficulty and expense that must attend 
the prosecution of this heating system form abundant reasons 
why it cannot be generally adopted. The great susceptibility 
of the insect to atmospheric influences would also in a great 
degree render unsuitable the more common arrangements for 
the purpose. The plan of warming apartments by means 
of stoves, in its p«issage through which die air becomes high- 
ly heated before it mixes with and raises the general temper- 
ature of the air in the chamber, is liable to this inccmvenience, 
— that the" portion so introduced, iMiving its vital property 
impaired by the burning heat through which it has piussed, 
injures,, proportionally, the respirable quality of the whde 
atmoephere ; an e^ect which is easily perceptible by those 
who breathe it A better plan of heating has lately been 
BOggested,. and 'is coming fiist into piractice, . of warming 
buildings by means of a current, of hot water, which is, by 
very simple means, kept constantly flowing jn.close channels 
through the apartment, where it continually gives off its 
heat by radiation ; and the degree of this being rar below the 
point which is injurious to the vital quality of. air, the evil 
before alluded to is avmded. If the expense of fuel be not 
too great, as compared with that of the labor vwhich would 
be saved by this means, the adoption in silk countries of such 
a mode of raising and regulating the temperature might, 
probaMy, prove advantageous. 

' The silkworm' remains in the form of a chrysalis for periods 
Wlach, according to the climate or the temperature wherein 
it may be placed, viufy firom fifteen to thirty days. In Indi% 
the time is only eleven days. In Spam and Italy, eighteen 
to twenty days. In France, three weeks; and in the climate 
Off Ek^land, when unaccejetated b^ artificial means, thirty 
days will elapse from the time the insect began to ^pih until 
it emerges in its last and perfect fc»rm* ' It then throws off 
the shroud which had confined it in seeming lifelessnessr and 
appears as a large moth of a grayish white color, furnished 
with four wings, two eyes, and two black horns or antlers 
which have a feathery appearance. 



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104 SlUt MAKUVACTUltfi. ^ ^AST ft 

If left until this period within the cocoon, the moth tmk» 
immediate measures for its extrication: ejecting from |ti 
mouth a liquor with which it moistens and lessens the a^e- 
mv^oMB of the gum with which it had lined the interior SQr- 
fiice of its dwel^g, the insect is enabled, by frequent mo- 
tioDs of its head, to loosen, without breaking, the toxl^ire o^ 
the ball; then using its hooked feet, it pushes aside tiie fila- 
ments and makes a passage fer itself into light and freedom. 
It isjgrroneously said that the moth recovers its liberty 1^ 
gnawing the alken threads; it is found, on the contrai^, that 




if carefully unwound, their continuity is by this means nidy 
broken. 

One of the most remarkable circumstances conneeted 
with the natural history of silkworms is the degree in which 
their bulk and weight are increased, and the limited time 
wherein that increase is attained. Count Bandolo, wha i^ 
pears to have neglected nothing that could tend to the right 
understanding of tiie subject, and to the consequent improve- 
ment of the processes employed, had patience enoi^ to 
count and weigh many hundred thousand eggs, and to milow 
out to the ultimate result his inquiries respecting their pro- 
duce, tie found that on an average sixty-eight sound silk- 
worm's eg£8 weighed one grain. One ounce,* therefore, 
comprised & J.68 eggs. But one twelfth part dT this weight 
evaporates previous to hatching, and the BheWa are equal to 
one fifth more. If], therefore, nom caie ounce, composed of 
576 grains, 48 grains be deducted for evaporation, and 115 
for the shells, 413 grains will remain equal to the wd^ 
of 39,168 young worms ; and, at this rate, 54,526 of the m- 

* Thit oanee contains 578 giains ; &5325 of these grains equal mvtm 
graint troy. One ounce avoirdupoiae is therefore equal to about 583 of 
these grains, and between 1 1-IS and 1 1-ia ounce avoirdupoiee equate imm I 
•f the above ounces. r -^ 



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CHAP. n. THE SILKWOBX. 105 

tects, when newly liatched, are required to make up the 
ounce. After the first casting of the skm, ^40 worms are 
found to have this weight, so that the bulk and weight of the 
kieects have in a few days been multiplied more than fourteen 
times. Aifter the second change, 610* worms weigh an 
ounce, the weight of the worms feing increased jn the inter- 
mediate time six fold. In the week paased between the 
second and third ages, the number of insects required to 
make up the same weight decreases from 610 to 144, their 
weight being therefore more than quadrupled. Durinff the 
iburth age, a similar rate of increase is maintained : thirty- 
five worms now weigh an ounce. ThiB fifth affe of the cater- 
pillar comprises nearly a third part of its brief existence, and 
turn been described, bv an en&usiastic writer on the* subject, 
as the happiest perioa of its life, during which it rapidly in- 
creases in size, and prepares and secretes the material vfhich 
it is about to spin. When the silkworms are fiilly grown* 
and have arrived at their period of finally rejecting food, six 
of them make up the weight of an ounce., They have, 
tiierefore, since their last chuige, agtUn added to their weight 
sixfold. 

It is thus seen that, in a few short weeks, the insect has 
multiplied its weight more than nine thousand fold I From 
this^riodt and daring the whole of its two succeeding states 
ofbemg, the worm imbibes no nourishment, and gradually 
dimini^es in weight; bei^ supported by its own substance^ 
and appearing to find sumcient occupe^ion in forming its 
silken web, bM providing successors for our service, wiSiout 
indulging that grosset appetite which forms the be^nning 
and the end of their desires during their caterpillar existence. 

The moth enjoys its liberty for only a very brief space. 
Its first employment is to seek its mate ; after which the 
female deposits her eggs; and both, in the course of two or 
three days after, -end their bein|^. 

It is worthy of remark, that m putting on its wings the in- ' 
sect does not acquire a greater wish for change than charac- 
terizes its former state (^ life. It remains, with the sole ex- 
ception Just named, fixed at one spot, its wings serving only 
by their fluttering to assist the moth in moving the few 
inches which may be necessary in fiilfiUing one of the ends 
of its existence. • 

The number of eggs prodaced by the female moth is va- 
rionsly stated ; some accounts mention 250, while others • 
reckon 400 to 500 as the ugual number. This varies, no 
douli, with the circumstances wherein the moth is j^aced. , 



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109 SILX XANUVACTttBS. PAST m 

Coast Btalolo obtained ma ounce of em from 180 oocoobi^ 
in which t^e aexes were equally divided. Pullein gflyi 
thtjt 200 cocoons are neeenaiy wr the production ckf tmt 
qmmt^; asA in. the Cours d' Agriculture, 240 cocoons A^ 
■aid to yield mily an ounce of eggB. • 

The relative lengfth, at each age, of a worm whidi attaint 
jtB ipwatest lei^rth, are, — 

at hatching, unity or -------- 1 

Bt the eod of the first affe ----- 4 

of the eecona age - - - • 6 

of the thhxl age 12 

of the fourth age 20 

of tiie fifth age 40 

The wofm meaaur^ aome^es, vi^hen at its greatest 
length, more than three inches; hut few attain to so great 
dimensions. The folbwmg lines show the proportions ^tfae 
nllKwonn at each age of its life. 

The small curved line at the top represents the worm 
when just hatched ; the lines to which are attached the nu- 
mends 1, 2» 3, 4, show ihe sizes i^ the ages corresponding to 
those numbers, and the lines No. 5 describe its dimensiootf 
shortly before it inrepares to- ^in. The horizontal lines re- 
present the lengtiis/and the perpendicular lines the diameters 
ci the insert 

Change of climate materially afiects for a time the breed 
{^silkworms. In attempting, therefore, tonaturali^se them 
in any place, it is important to procure eggs from some oooii* 



tiy of the same temp^mture. Where this is impracticaUe^ 
they dumld be Iqnought fvom a colder, rather than from a 
wanner climate. A yety smalll variation of temperature will 



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prodvtce a Tery mariced efiect Monsieuif Chazal relatefl^ 
that worms hatched in the Mauritiiui, from cgggs procured ill 
Bengal^ neither attained to their natural si^ nor afibrded 
the ufiiml qnantity of silki which, besides, was of hidiflbrent 
quality. Ins second bitod, proceeding ifrom the eggs of thesa 
imported worms, were laiyer, and yielded a better prodnce 
both in quantity and quahty ; but the inserts did not Mly 
recover the deshrable qualities of their progemtors Until the 
fourth generatioiL - 

In addition to the silkworms most commonly reared, ^erd 
are two vartelies of this insect^ which are partially cultiTated, 
and which require some description. 

One of these is a small worm, which tauUt Ha skiA only 
thvice, and goes throufi^ its cateri>illar life in font days leas 
time than the worm already described./ Its eggs are about 
one seventh part lighter than those of the common species, 
42,680 egffs being required to make up the weight of one 
ounce. T%e worms themselves, when arrived at their full 
growth, are only three fifths of th6 ordinary size and weij^fat, 
and the balls which they make are in the like nroportiod : 
four hundred of these weigh only one pound. In inning 
this weight of cocoons, Hiese worms do not cofisnme quite as 
much food as the larger species. The orifices through which 
they draw the silken material are more minute than those of 
common nlkworms; and the filament, which on that account 
b finer, has a nlore beautifUl appearance. Their cocoons are 
also more perfectly formed, and, in equal weights, will yield 
a ffreoter proporticm of reeled silk than ordinary cocoons^ 
4863 afibrdmgf on an average, one pound of pure sQk : each 
oocoon, therefore, fiimishes Tittle more than 2^ gndns of silk, 
which nieasures, if one ball be estimated wSh another, a 
very small fraction under four hundred yaid& 

They are considered by some persons as being delicate, bi:^ 
it does not appear that they call for a greater degrj^ of atten- 
tion than diould be bestowed on other worsts Thehr eggs 
mqr readUy be obtained in Italy. 

The second variety becomes much laiger than the common 
sort: their eggs, however, are not proportionally heavy, 
weighing little more than one thirtieth pttt beyond those of 
other worms: it requires 37440 of them to make an ounce. 
When at tilieir utmost gK>wth, two of these insects wifl 
weigh as much as five common silkworms, and the weight of 
the cocoon which they construct is m nearly Ito same pro* 
portion. 



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108 8ILK KANUFACnmS. TAJan 

The advantage offered to the cultivator by this deacriptia 
of worm, is ecooomy in the quantity of food. In ordmaiy 
seasons, 12| pounds of mulberry leaves will nourish as many 
worms as m^uce one pound of cocoons, which is a saving 
of one tenth the average weight required for the productioo 
of a similar qua^itity by common worms. On the other iund, 
this variety occupies five or six days longer in paamg 
through their mutations, and before they begin to spin. Oae 
hundred of their cocoons weigh a pound, and one thousand 
and ninety-one of them will yield one pound of reeled silk : 
each cocoon, therefore, furnishes nearly 8^ grains of silk, «dJ 
the lenffth of its thread is very nearly 1300 yards. This 
breed of worms is to be found in FriulL* 
. The c(Mi8titutioo of worms of this larger species, does not 
offer inducements for their adoption into more temperate di- 
ihate8;.but the advantages offered by the smaller vaziely 
make them worthy of Miservatkm and experiment on the 
part of silk cultivators. > 



CHAP. in. 

MODB OV RSARIlfO SnjnvORMS III CHINA. 

Silkworms sometimefl reared on Trees.— Produce inferior to that spun 'm 
Houes.— Bloda of delaying the Hatching of E«n.— Method of Hatcbiaf. 
—Situation of Rearing ftooma.— Number of Meala.— Necewity of pre- 
venting Damp.— Of preserving Cleanliness.— €pace allotted to Worms. 
—Preparations for Spin ninr.— Collection of Cocoons.— Destractkm of 

. Chrysalides.— Buildings emjployed for rearing Silkworms in India. 

Before entering upon any description of the methoik 
practised in Europe for rearing silkworms, it appeaiB desi- 
rable to give a bnef account of the means employed for that 
end in China. It will be seen, from this sketch, how^~ supe- 
rior, in many respects, were the arrangements of the Chinese 
Cultivators; and that in departing from the course so kof 
pursued by them, Euit)peHans made choice Gt modes le» 
rational ftiw simple for attaining the desired result Tlie in- 
quiries and experiments of later days have brought us back 
firom the confused procedures, which so long imparted uneeF 
tainty, and so frequently led to disappointment, and have in- 
troduced, instead, judicious and methodical arrangements. 

* Friuli silk is said to be more troublesome and wasteAil in its manvflM- 
tore than that of either FraoM or Lombardy; an afiiect wtaielk oaaybt 
owing ta their breed of worma 



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■Ml 



CRAS* UU SILKW0B3I8 IH CHIirA. i09 

in those ports of the ^empire where the cMmate is flLVontble 
to the practice,-aDd where akme, most.probiyily; the silkwoim 
18 indigenous, it remains at liberty, feeding at f^easure eH 
the leaves c^ its native mulberry tree, and going ttnoiigh aH 
its mutations amon^ the branches, uncontiollea bf ^e hand 
and nnassisted by uie cares, of man^ So seon^ how^VfOV w 
the silken balls have been constructed, they ora aj^piopnated 
by the universal usurper, who spares only the few re^Vad 
to reproduce their numbers, and thus to fUrmsii him with 
successive harvests.* 

This silk, the spontaneous offering of nalure« is ikyt^ hefp* 
ever, equal in fmieiieas to that which is spun by wmms under 
shelter, and whose piogressi<»ia are iimaeiioed by CAI^efol 
tendance. Mueh attenlaon is,' therefcr^, bestowed by ^ 
Chinee in the artificial rearing of silkworms. One of their 
principal cares is to prev^t the too earlj hatdikig of the 
eggs, to wh&;h the nature of the climate so strongjly disposes 
th^m. The mode of insuring the requisite delay i% lip^csiin 
the moth to d^osit her eggs on^large rtiests of P^P^ ^ these« 
iramediatdy on their production, are suspended Uf » beaiB of 
the roosa, lu^d the windows are opened^ e^qtose th«m 1»tbt 
air. Ba a few days the papers are taken down an4 rolbsd op 
loosely with the eggs withmside, in which ferm th^ aro 
hung agaia during the remainder of the summer and thio^l^ 
the aiitmBB. Towards the end of the year they ^xe ha^ 
mersed i» cold water whereim a small portidn <» salt has 
been dissolved. In this state the &gffi ajre left dodsg two 
days ; and on being taken fi:om the ^salt and wn^er Are to* 
hung to dry, and are then rdled up ra|her more tigiithr than 
before, eaeh sheet of paper being thereafter inclosed Sn « 
separate earthen vessel. Some persons, who are exceedingly 
pajticalar in their processes, use a ley made^f mulberry tiree 
ashes, and place the e^gs likewise, during -sGQie mh^iotes* on 
snow water, or otherwise oaa mulb^iy tree Wposed to snow, 
or rain. 

These proeesses appear Qfilcacions fer eheekl|ig <ibe hatch*' 
ing, until the expanding leaves of the mulberry tree give 
Botk^ to liie rear^ of sQkvirorms that'he may taw measures 
&r bringing forth his brood. For this purpose the roU«.<^ 
paper aHe taken ftom the earthen vessels, and are hung up to- 
wards the son, the side to, which the effg» adhere being turn- 
ed fiom its rays, which ore transmitt^ to them throii^h the 
pqier. in the ev^iing the aheeteare rolM cksely vf mat 

K 



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110 SILK XANUFACnmS. PAKTH* 

placed in a wann Bituatkm. The same prbceeding' ss rep^ 
ed on the fbllowiog day, when the e^ assome a mjiA 
color. On the evening of the third day, after a simuar ex- 
posure, they are found to be of a much darker color, nearly 
a]^9roaclungr to Uack; and the fbllowing morning, on the 
paper being unrdled, they are seen covered with worms. In 
the h^her latitudes the Chifiese have recourse to the heat of 
stoves, to-promote the simultaneous hatching of eggs. 

The apartments in which the womM are kept stand in dry 
situations, in a pure atmosphere, and apart froin ail noise, 
which is thought to be annoying to the worms, and especially 
when they are young. The rooms are made very^ close, but 
adequate means of ventilation are provided : the doors open 
to the south. Each chamber is provided with nine or tra 
rows of frames, placed one «bove the other. On these frames 
tush iiurdles are ranged, upon which the worms are ied 
through all their five ages* A unifonn degree of heat is 
eonetuitl^ preserved, either by means of stoves placed in the 
comers «(»f the apartments, or by chafing-dishes which from 
^roe tortiBie are aurried up and down the room. Flame and 
smoke are always carefully avoided : cow-dung dried in the 
mn is preferfed by the Chinese to all other kinds of fuel for 
4fais purpose. 

The most luiremitting attention is paid to the wants of the 
wonns, which are fed during the night as well ^ gie day. 
On the day of their being hatched mey are flimidied with 
forty mealS( thirty are ffiven in the second day, and fowfer in 
and after the third day. The Chinese believe that the 
growth of silkworms is accelerated, and their success pro- ~ 
moted, by the abundance of their food ; and therefore, in 
cloudy and damp weaXher, when the insects are injurioady 
affected by rAe state of the atmosphere, their am>etites afe 
stimulated -by a wmp of very dry straw being lighted and 
held over them^ by means of which the cold and damp air is 
dissipated. 

It is affirmed by these accurate observers, that Uie quicker 
flie vmfm arrives at its maturity, the greater is the quantity 
of silk which it spins. They say, that if the worms become 
jiifly grown in twenty or twenty-five days,, each drachm 
weight <^ e^ wiU produce twenty-five ounces of silk ; that 
if their saaturity be delayed to the tWenty-dghth day, only 
twei^ ounces are 4>btained ; and that if thirty or forty days 
elapse be^wveir the hatching and the commencement of tbe 
cocoons, then only ten ounces are the result 

Th!$ Chinese are exceedingly careful in preserving the 



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CAAP. in. SiLKWOSJfB W CRIHA. Ill 

nicest degree of eleanliness in their establiafaments for rear- 
ing silkworms ; being fiill^ aware of the great importance 
which attaches to that particular. 

The worms, as they increase in growth, have gradually 
more space assigned to them ; so that the full-gr6wn cater- 
pillars have foijur times the scope that is allowed to them 
when newly hatched, and sometimes even more. 

When the insects are about to commence their spimmuf, 
mats are provided, in the centra of which a strip of rush, 
about an inch broad, is fixed, and extended in a spiral form, 
or m concentric circles, over the whole surface of the mat, 
leaving an area of about an inch broad between each circle. 
Here uie worms fix themselves to spin ; and it is found that 
these receptacles occasion 1^ silk to be wasted hy them in 
floss, than when more i^Mice is allotted, wherein their first ^ 
threads can be spun. At this time l&e whole room is car&- 
Iblly covered with mats, to exclude the outward air and the 
light, as it is believed that silkworms work mace diligently 
in darknesa 

hi seven da.ys firpm the commeneementof the cocoons they 
are collected in h^ps, those which are designed to continue 
the breed being fiist selected and set apart on hurdles, in a 
dry and airy situaticm. l^e next care is to destroy the vi^ 
tality of the chrysalides in those balls which are to lie reeled. 
The most approved method of performing this is to fill large 
earthen vessels with cocoons, in layers, tiirowiog in one for- 
tieth part of their weight of salt upon each layer, covering 
the whole with large dry leaves resembling those of the 
water-lily, and then closely stopping the mouths of the ves- 
sels, hi reeling their silk, the Chmese separate, the thick 
, and dark from the lon^ and flittering white cocoons, as the 
produce of the former is inferior. 

hi India, the climate admits of silkworms bemg reared in 
buildings resembling sheds rather tiian^ houses. They are 
compowd of lattice-work, and their roofi are covered with 
tiiatch. The breadth of such buildings is usually fifleen 
feet, and their height eight feet ; their length is regulated by 
the extent of acconmiodation required. In the centre of the 
apartment a path 4s left, of convenient width for the attend- 
ants to pass and repass in supplying the wants of their^harge; 
and on either side are twelve tiers or stages, qne above an- 
other, of open frame-work, or shallow boxes made of bamboo, 
in which the worms are placed. When ready to spin, eagh 
worm is individually transferred to a small cell fi»rmed ~*^ 
pitted strips of bamboa 



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lit MLX XAKUfACmmK* ^AST U* 

CHAP. IV. - 

JIODB (^ RBABIHO SOJiWOkMB VX BtJBOPB. 

Ctewt DegfM «f OUneibliieM reouiMd.— Absiirditiei /brmerly believed oon- 
ceraing Silkworaw.— Cboice of EfgB.—Mo&e» pf HttcUnff.— Use of Stove- 
Itooms.— Their Temperature.— Oinveyinf of Worme to aeariof-Hoaae.— 
Ifeeewity Ibr OlMiinf Worms Mcordiof to their Aces.-r-Rewrend Mr. 
8wmyii«*f ApMBStUB.— fipaoe allowed: to Worms.-^Mode of f'eeding.— 
Cluantity of Iieavea conMimed.— Arbors for (^nnin^.— Necessity of Af^ 
tention to minute points in Management.— Regulation of Temperature^ 
—Silkworms will not spin in cold atmospbere.-^Venti]ation4— Efiect of 
lfoise.~Bleetcic Influence.— Conductors. 

Tbb yatioui GpenJdorm of an establishment for the pro^uc- 
tioQ of silk are, ordinarily, all begun and concluded in the 
' course of a few weeks'; yet they call for a considerable de- 
cree of -attention on the part of its condpctor, and can hardly 
be 4)ieQght to a sucoeaBful issue Witboirt the akl of experience. 
TluB is espoNsially the case in Euretie, where atmospheric 
changes are contmually arising, which in various ways influ- 
enee the tender sili^piodueing insert One lUse step in 
Bummment mi^^t be &tal, and one day*s rel^ucation of the 
^reedSr's cans: would suffice to bring aU his previous labors 
taooUiing.. 

The d^fiee of skilfukess and care thus required fbt thd 
•QOoesiAil leariog of jslkworms upon any useful scale, cannot 
be adeqturtely estimated by the experience of those persons 
in Engjand» wlio^ as a ma&er of curiosity or of amusement, 
kave watched over tk few hundred worms, and have wound 
eff the silk which these have iumished, unassailed by ac^ 
dent or misfotune. It is very natural to suppose, that what 
IS so easily practicable with a small number, offers little diffi- 
culty as an extensive employment If, however, the English 
brteoeir coanders tiie tinie, . faoif ever short it may have ap- 
peared, and the kbor, however unimportant in his estimaJtion, 
oestowed on his inooiisideraBle brood, and thence calculates 
tiie greater labor whicb nrost attend imon the rearing of 
hundreds, of thousands, or, perhaps, millians of insects, its 
insign^canoe will disappear. He may then naturally 
-imagine, how great is the importance of abridging that labor, 
of ecottomizing' expense, and of providing in every way 
-agunst accid^eiSs, vi^iehi if occurring to interrupt his amuse- 
ment, would be merely vexatious, but upon the avoiding €i 
whioh, under otber circumstances, depend the subsistence 
md well-bein^ of thousands. 

Many treaUses have appeared fVom time to time containinig 



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CHAP. IV. SILKWORMS IN BUSOPS. 11^ 

copious information for the guidance of silk cultivators. 
PartaUng in the generally increasing intelligence, recent 
writers on this branch -of industry have treated it^ rationally 
and practicallv; but it is remarkable, to how late, a period 
this object, which addressed itself to the interests of ezten* 
five communities, was gravefy made the kibject of the most 
absurd and unphi)o6ophic jiotioj^ 

Pomet, chief druggist to Louis le Grand, and who in the 
latter part of the seventeen^ century wrote his ^ General 
History ctfDru^*' a work by which he acquired considerable, 
reputation, seriously, and with all the signs of credence, 
quotes from Isnard, the following directions for improving the 
breed of silkworms: — 

^At the time when the mulberry leaves are ready to 

S;her, which should be five days aitez ^eir budding, in the 
rinning of the sanng, they take a cow which is almost at 
ving, and feed her wholly with mulberry leaves, witliout 
fiving her any thing else to «at of herbs, hay, die, or the 
fike,,till she has calved; and this they continue for eight 
days l<»iger, after whicli, they let the co)v and the calf l»th 
feed upon this some days together, without any other mixtur^B 
as before. They kill the calf after it has been filled or 
satiated with the mulberry leaves and the cow's milk, then 
chop it to pieces to the very feet, and without throwing any 
thing away, put all together, the flesh, blood, bones, skin, ana 
entmiJs, into a wooden trough,, and set -it at top of the house, 
in a granary or garret, till it is corrupted ; atid firom this will 
{Koceed little worms, which they lay together in a heap with 
mulberry leaves to raise them aftorwards, just as they do 
thoee which are produced from the e^gs ; so that those who 
deal considerably in them, never fell, every ten or twelvel 
years^ to raise them this way." The authority of Ittiaitt 
^poa the culture of m\k was long oMisidered unquestbnabie. 
It is difficult to aiscount for the origin of such a childish 
Able ; and one is at a loss whether most to admire the impii- 
denee of the falsehood, or the credulity which led to its re- 
ception. Thousands, who, of tbeir own knowledge, could 
contradict the absurdity, were IHring in the very country 
where it was put forth, and ye^in tt^ capital of that coun- 
try, we see a man of literature, and reputed to possess a de- 
cree of scientific knowledge equal to most in his day, stamp- 
ing the assertion with the sanction of his authority. Btill 
later than this, Lemery, who by his writingis and lectures did 
much to disencumber chemical science from the clouds of 
ignonaioe wherein it was enveloped in his day, republished 
K2 



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Pooae^tf work with a commentary, and fneet^nA the ahow 
paange, venturing only to qualify its insertimi with the vmt 
ge^e Yetnarkt ^ uiia thoagfat, however^ wants confirmatioiii'' 

The proper ehoice of egga is the first care of the cult^ 
vator. From this he may relieve himself in soeeeedisg 
ieasoos) the operations or his own filature producing tfae 
QBQUisite quantity. The Italian writers on the colture of 
■ilk give very cc^[Moas directions hr choosing eggrsi and fer 
detecting and avoiding tbe firaudaleiit arts sometimes prac- 
tised by their Vetidortl. 

Good soOnd- e^gfl are of a bluish-gray color ; those whiob 
are yellow fdioUMicm no account be purchased* It is oommoa 
with tiie peasant^ whose eggs are of the latter dpseription to 
tfive them so much the appearance ef sound efga^ by wiah* 
mg them in muddy, daik-colored.winei that consi^rable jodg^ 
ment is required to detect the cheat 

Where silkworms' ecgs are broug^ from a distant inrngt- 
try, mvtch attention is demanded to prevent their prematovd 
hatching. This has been socceisfiilly acoompiiflhed by 
l^ing them, when i^wly-laidt and carefhlly drieid, in fflaai 
tkhials closely sealed to ezdnde air and moisture : the n^kote 
nein^ then nnmereed in eardien pots filled with cold watery 
whibk must be r^iewed as often ais it becomes warm. 

The hatching process, until within a very few years of the 
prea^t time, was usually c(Hidaoted in a very immethodici^ 
or uncertain manner. Many cultivators depended on the 

rtaneous appearanOe ctf the worms, ealled forth only bf 
natural warmth of the advaneing season. Others hsd 
recourse to the heat of manure beds» but the method most 
frequently emptoyed was to foster them into life by the heat 
of tiie human hoij. The mode of accomplishing this, was 
to |4ace a small «lk or cotton bag containing one or two 
ounces c^ egffs hi the bosom next to the skm. The persons 
with whom these deposits were intrusted were forbiaden to 
use any violent exerdsoj-lest their charge might be crushed, 
or otherwise mistalii injury through the consequent inequahtf 
of temperature^ It would have been unsafe to continue the 
bags in this position during tibe nighty and it was therefore 
most usual to plai^ tbeih benslLth Ihe pillow, which was pf6> 
yiously heated to the temperature of the human body, using 
precautions also against mjury, by i^acin^ some mff sub* 
stance over the eggs. When this companionship had lasted 
three days, and it was judged that the worms were shordy 
about to appear, the effgs were very gently transferred to 
AaHow boxes made of thin wood, sunflar to ttaae used 6r 



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CttAP. IV. SILKWORMS tN BtTfiOPE. Il5 

eentaming wafers: fliese were placed between wanned pil* 
lows as before described; aad if the batdiinr were ^till 
iiirtfaer delaj^d, ffesh heated pillows were supplied throdgh 
the ensaing^day, and oontini^d until the insects had burst 
&eir shells. Some persons used warm pillows from the com« 
mencement, and av(»ded the system of human incubation. . 

Coont Diemdolo recommended «Rd adopted the use of 
stDves for heating the apartment in which his e^ were 
batched, and by such means rendered the c^teration m a great 
degree certain, removing, at die same time, much of the 
tTMtble by which it had previoufily been aecomfmnied. Pre- 
▼iouflly to {daeing the eggs in this heated atmosphere, the 
oovoit caused the cloths to which the eggs adhered to be 
agitated for five er mx minutes ma vessel containing water, 
in ordei: to lessen the adheeaveness of the ipatter which re^ 
taiaed them on the cloths. Having then suffered tiie water 
to drain from them during^ two ^xr three minutes, the cloths 
wejte stretched out on taUes, and 1^ eggs were gently 
scraped from them by an histrument wluwe' ed|fe was not 
sufficientlv sha^ to cut the eggs, jior yet so blunt as to crush 
ffaem. The eggs, tims removed, were placed in water and 
washed, still further to free them fr6m gum, and to promote 
tiieir reparation from each other. If any floated on the sur^ 
&ee in this washing, they Were- removed and destroyed as 
mpsHh, The water li^in being drained from them, the esgB 
were next wa^ed in some sound light whie, and gentle mc- 
tion was used to perfect their mutual separation. They were 
then jtraiiied and dried, by being placed on an absorbing sub- 
irtaiiGe in a dry air^ place, who^ temperature waa betwemi 
Ibrty-siz and fiftykiihe degrees of Fahrenheit's scale^ there to 
await the proper moment for placing them in tlie stove-room. 
It has always be^i customaiy in Italy to employ wine as a 
flolvent fot the gum whiph causes the eggs tcr adhere together, 
and which is thought to make the task pf disengagii^ itielf 
^rom the shell more difficult to the insect ' 

It has been suggested, that one hatchiDg room, upon a 
Boffieient scale, lAight be employed for the general accommor 
dation, in bringing forth all the silkworms ciihe sarroonding 
district; and if proper confidence could be pUced in ^e pro* 
prietor of such an establishment, there is no, doubt of JtM 
gteat convenience to the cultivators. - - 

When egffs axe first placed in the stove-^twm, itstempeiw 
ature shomd be sixty-four degrees; on the third d^y thai 
riiould be raised' to six^-six decrees ; and on each Mowing 
My tbe heat should be mcreaaod one or two^egr^es, so that 



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116 «ILK MAinTFACTITSS. PAST H. 

on the tenth day it shall have reached eigfaty-twa degreei, 
which point must not be exceeded. The degree of warmth 
required far hatching the eggs of silkworms depends veiy 
much, however, upon the temperature to which they have 
been exposed during the precedmg winter^ It is, therefore, 
important that this point should be considered, so as to avoid 
premature hatching on the one hand, and too great a retaid- 
mg on the other, which would follow if the eggs had been 
exposed to any severity of odd. 

When the eggs assume a whitish color, it 19 a sign that 
they are about to be hatched ; find now, by the aid of a mag- 
nifying glass, the . worms may be seen formed within the 
i^ells. Sheets of white paper, abundantly {nerced with 
holes, or otherwise pieces or clear muslin, friioald now be 
placed over the eggs, covering them entirely ; when, as the 
worms come forth, they will climb through to the iqpper sor- 
fitce of the paper or muslin. 

To collect the worms foo* the purpose of conve3ring them.t^ 
the rearing-house, small twigs of mulberry, with very fow 
leaves, ^are placed on the^ paper. On these leaves the newly- 
hatched worms iminediately fix, and firesh twigs being con* 
stantiy supplied to meet the want^s of the , continually increas- 
ing number of worms, th_e whole may be readify collected. 
Ynien their removal to any considerable distance is rieces- 
sary, this is easily and safely performed by placing the ^eets 
of F«Hper and mulberry twigs in boxes or well-Uned baskets, 
using every precaution to exclude the external air from the 
now delicate brood. The worms should be removed only in 
fine weather^ and during the warmest part of the day, and 
they should be suppliS with leaved for their consumption 
while on the road. 

The apartment wherein the newly-hatched worms are 
placed must be dry and warm, with its^mdowd opening on 
opposite sides^ that perfect ventilation, may be obtamed when 
desirable. The room should be fumishea with a stove, and 
^ thermometers must be provided, that the temperature may be 
precisely regulated. Wicker shelves are usually placed 
around at convenient distances, and are lined with paper: on 
these the worms are jpiJaced. The greatest precautions must 
be taken to prevent the -intrusion of rats and mice, as well as 
many of the insect tribe, as these are more or less destruc- 
tive to silkworms. Smoke, and bad smells, are likewise con- 
sidered prejudicial, and must be avoided. 

All writers on the treatment of these insects agree in re- 
commending, that worms which are not hatched at the i 



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cnAP« n^. silkWoHms ts euroi^. 117 

time AbkM on iid account be pkced together. The heglect 
of this precaution woiild occaaon constant trouble to the at- 
tendants ; the changed occurring at di^rent periods, it would 
be impossible to attend to the quantity of ttieir food with the 
degree of tegukirity that is desirable. This point is so much 
iiiSsted upon by many cultivators, that to avoid the evil, all 
eggs which remain unhatched beyond the second day ailef 
the first appearance of the worms 'are destroyed. It is said 
also, that if those of a lat^ birth are reared, they generally 
prove weak in (x>nstitution, and p^roduee less than their proper 
qaantity of silk. 

The reverend Mr. Swayne, who some years ago bestowed 
roach attention upon the culture of silk in England, proposed 
the use of a simple appNeiratps for receiving and feeding the 
wornisduring their caterpillar state. His plan (^rs ad van* 
tagcB, in the important pdnt of ^cleanliness, greats than 
those possessed by the wicker 'Selves usually employed, and 
it is thought thata description of it may prove useful. - 

The^ apparatus conaista of a wooden frame, fi>ttr feet two 
inches high, fumiidied with ^ght open drawers or slides, 
whieh eta be readily thrust in or drawn out from the fhune. 




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118 BILK MANUFACTUKS. PASTII* 

ThQ apper slide « is of m>^f *^ designed to rtisceire thd 
newly-hatched worms. The two slides, b b, are formed of 
catgut, the threads oi which are about one tenth of an inch 
apart: these are for the insects in their second and third ages. 
The fite slides c c are of wicker-work or netting, and aie 
appropriated to the insects in their more forward sta^gfes. Be* 
neath each of t)ie drawers, with the exception of that marked 
a, other slides of pi^r are inserted to receive the litter of 
the worms, which, by this means, may be frequently removed 
without occasioning any disturbance to the insects. These 
must not be retained in the U{mer drawers b b after they 
have become so large that their litter will not fall thiough 
the catgut bottoms : at this time they must be transferred to 
the wickei; or netting slides, which, the inventm- imagined 
would, from their greater number, ofier space enough & the 
accommodation (^ a&many fyi-ep^wn caterpillars as the ap> 
per drawer would contain <^ taode newiy hatched. Under 
this arrangement the litter may be removed as oft^i as the 
worms are fed. ^ 

It has been cmmmted, diat three squire feet of soiiliee a^ 
' ford am^e space for the worms proceeding from.mn oonee of 
egg% until the period of l^eir first sidmess is passed; and 
t&t this space snould be multiplied thrice at each eucceeding 
age. Count Dandolo considefed that silkworms would be 
injuriously crowded in these dimensions, and reoonunended, 
thkt eifipht square feet should be allotted to the wcumis during 
their iBrst afi^e ; ^fteen feet for the second afe ; thirty-five 
feet for the third ; eighty-two and 'k half feet R»r the fourth ; 
and about two hmidred feet for the fifth a^e. According to 
these proportions Mr. Swayne's apparatus is very i^Cppeirect, 
but this defect may easily be. remeoied in practice. 

The mulberry leaves given to the newl^-hatched brood 
should be young and tender, and chopped mto minute por- 
tions. These should be strewed evenly over theT whole space 
of the shelves, that there may not beany unnecessanr crowd- 
ing of the insects in one spoiL It is indeed advisalue, when 
— as they sometimes will — the worms get heaped upon one 
another, that a leaf shoCdd be presented -over them; to this 
some will quickly attach themselves, and may thett be re- 
moved to a less crowded situation. 

The worms proceeding from one ounce of eggs will con- 
sume six pounds of chopped leaves before their first moulting. 
Their, second age is of shorter duration, but the ffreater 
size of the worms requires a more abundant supply of food ; 
and eighteen pounds <^ leaves, chopped less finely than be* 



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CmAP. IV. SILKWORHS IN EUSOFB. 119 

lore, must be ^ven, during its continuance, to the sanie num- 
ber. In the mird a^e, sixty pounds of leaves, still a little 
chopped, must, be given ; one hundred and eighty pounds 
iTv^iil be consumed durinsf their fourth age ; and in their fifth 
and longest age, one mousand and ninety-eifirht pounds of 
leay«8 are devoured b^ these insects, which, when hatched a 
few weeks before, weighed less than jtn ounce. 

These quantities .are stated on the supposition that the 
vrorms are uniformly healthy.- If m^y of them should die 
in. the intermediate time, the weights mentioned will bain 
excess. On the other hanct^ if the season should be wet, the 
leaves will not contain the usual nourishment; with reference 
to their weight, and more -must be ^ven ; whereas, if the 
I should prove mcwre'dry tiwui ordina,ry, th^ nutriment in 



the leaves will be greater, and the ^[uantlty given may be di- 
The skin of 9ie cultivator is 



minishe^ with advantage. 

shown by the weight c? silk obtained in proportion to the 

leaves consumed ;' and' his judgment is tasked to appor1;ion 
these according to -their nutritive properties. There will be . 
no real economy in keeping the consumption o^&od too low : 
this, however, is not a common fault, and evils occur m^ucfa 
more fi;equently from over-feeding and waste of leave& 

The worms should be fe4 with regularity four times a 
day; and intermediate repasts may 1:^ occasionally given, 
where their appetites appear to be increased in voraciousness. 
The advantage of chopping the leaves for young worms con- 
sists in the economy it introduces.' Many thousand insects 

^ may, by this means, feed simultaneously upon a few ounces 

' c^ leaves; whose, freah-cut edges seem better adapted to 
their powers when newly hatch^. If the leaves were given 
to them Whole, a much |^ater numbei^ must be supplied than 
wocdd be consumed wbde their freshness l^ted, and great 
waste would be the e(»isequence. The worms will always 

■ quit stale leaves for those which are newly gathered. Avad- 
ing themselves of this ^t, some persons provide wire-bot- 
tomed frames, which they cover with fresh leaves, ^and lower 
them within reach of the worms. These instantly make 
their way through the reticulations of the wire, and fixing 
upon the leaves above, the frame may be raised and the lit^r 
removed without touching the .worms, which might be in- 
jured by even the gentlest hancflmg. This plan, as it oo- 
casions more trouble, does not appear so eligible as that of 
Mr. Swayne. 

When the silkworms give Indications that they are about 
to spin, little bushes must be provided fiar the purpoae. These 



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120 



8ILX MANUFACniBE. 



TAMtJh 



may. be of broom, heath, clean bean-stiJIs, or, in rifoit, any 
bush qr brushwood that is tender and flexible. These shbold 
be arranged upright in rows between the Bhelves, with inte^ 
rals of Sle^n inches between the rows. The boshes shooU 
be so high as to be bait by the shelf inunediately above into 
tbefcmn of an arck ' They should be so Readout, that t 
supply of air should fr^ly reach every part, and ample apace 
should be afbrded for the worms to fix themselves and^^in; 
otherwise, there is great haz^ of their forming douUe co- 
eooQs, in which two worms assi^ in the pveparatioii qC qbs 
dwelling for both : the silk in th^e u so much less Bda^gkei 
to the purposes of the reeler, tbAt a double cocotm is woitii 
only one half the price of a single one. Inattention to this 
point is very common, and occasions constant losses. Wha 
the twigs alrefidy erected appe^ to be adeqni^y fonuM 

Fig.e. 




with worms, other omilar hedges iiheuld be fi»rmed, panJki 
to the first The sj^es between the shelves will tlras pve- 
sent the appearance of small avenues or arbors covered ia at 
the topL* 

The worms atthis time require mitt^h careful watching, 
and occasional sssistaace must be afSuxled to those which are 
sluggish, that they may find an eligible spot for forming their 
cocoons. Those ^ofms which appea;r still inclined to f^ 
must be supplied with leaves; so long as the slightest indi^ 
nation foe fixA remainsT they will not attempt to form thdr 
cocopns. ^It will som^tin^es happen, that even afteur they 
have climbed among the branches for the purpose of apianinfl; 
tiiey will again descend to satisfy their last desire for focd. 

♦NoteX. 



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0tUf^ IV. SUKWOimd IN EUROPG. Hn 

^ I M» iaeB them," ays a minute observer, ** stop when da- 
Bcendio^, and remain with the head downwards, the wish to 
eat havmg ceased before they reached the bottom." In such 
^.case, they should be turned with tb^ir heads upwards, as 
.the ccmtrary position is injurious to them. IS, at this time, 
many appear weak and inert, remainiiig motionless on the 
leaves, neither eating nor giving any -sign of rising to spin, 
mmnQ means must foe taken to stimulate them to the exertunL 
It was the ancient practice and found to be efficacious for 
this purpose, to convey some pungent article, such as Med 
onioDS, mto the apartment, the emuvia from which revived 
the worms, inciting some to take their last meal, and in- 
ducing others, whose desire for food had ceased, to climb 
the twigs and be^n their labors. The same end is now 
gen^Mj and un^)ingly attained, by removing the sluggish 
worms into another apartment, the temperature of which is 
liigber. ' 

All these minute directions may perhaps appear frivolous; 
but it is only by an unceasing attention to these and the like 
minutis, that any tderable success can be secured. When 
•11 the previous, cares and labors of an establishment have 
been satisfactorily accompliidied, if the hedges be not well 
formed, are irregular, or too thick in any puts, so as either 
to impede the eircidatioii of aic, or too far to limit the space 
in pr^rtion to the number of wcnuis, ill success will be sure 
to follow. Instead of the proper number c^ fine single co> 
coons, many will be double, others imperfect or soOed, and 
even some of the silkworms will be sufS)cated before the 
compJetion of their labors. 

It is essential, in every age of the worms, to attend to the 
legulatioii of temperature in their apartments ; and at no 
time is this more necessary than while they are forming 
their cocoon& li^ at this time, they are exposed to mu(m 
cold, they desist from their labors, ^ould the balk be su^ 
fici^tly thin, the insects may be discerned, either quite inf 
pctive, or moving very dewfy. ~ On the temperature being 
raised, tiie^ will immediately resume their work with re- 
newed activi^ and will once more desist, if the cold be 
Ugain allowed to exert its influence. After tiiey have re- 
mained inactive fix«n this cause for a short timet they p<H off 
their caterpillar form, v and assume that of the ch^si^isi 
without having sufficient energy to complete tiieir silken 
coverinfi^. ^ 

. The&ttivDlwneof the transactions of the Society for tiie 
Soooumfemeot of Art% &c contains a totter upon thkiiv^ 
li 



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122 ilUt UAIfVFMfrfmM. PaM n. 

ject from a ffontieiiiaii, wha relates, tlu^t in the muomer of 
1786 he had succesBftilly reared to their fbll growth more 
than thirty thousand silkworms, when at the beffinning of 
July, and just as they appeared about to spin, a chifling north- 
east wind set m, and many of the worms became chrysalide^ 
without attempting to spin. On the examination oi &ese, it 
appeared that ^e glutinous matter in their silk reaenroiri 
had become so concealed by the cold, as to resemble t^roog 
tendons, both in appearance and tenacity ; which snffi^ently 
accounted for the mability of the insects to draw forth tfaie 
sUk in filaments. Thousands oC the worms chan^fed Inr this 
profitless manner daily^ until at length, the survivors being 
removed into an apartment artificially warmed, they hnme* 
diately applied themselves to the perlbrmance of their usml 
Amotions. It is desirable that while silkworms are in the 
act' of spinning* the tempeiatnre oi their i^partment should 
be maintained as hi^^ as 70 degrees, and it is at the same 
time equallji^ important that firee ventilation should be secured. 

The opinion has been v^ generally entertained that vic^ 
lent noise disturbs, and iiyuriously arocts the wonns, and 
that any sudden report, as of fire-arms or thimder, will cause 
them to fall firom their arborsi The peasants in Italy whe 
attend on silkworms are so stnmgly of this opinion, that if 
the caterpillars omit to rise and spin after thunder has been 
heard, they consider its noise as the sole reason c^ the 
fiulure : they are always desirous of removing every cause 
fi>r noise from about the establishment This opinicm appean^ 
however, to be badly founded, and has been satisfactorily re* 
fiited by persons wlio have made experiments to ascertain the 
&ct Dilkworms have been reared in all the bustle <^ a 
town, exposed to the barking of dogs, and to concerts of 
music, without in any way e^mibiting signs of bein^ af^ted 
by the noise. The foUowing statement is conclusive. It iff 
taken firom the ^ Cours d* A^^ultnre,** written by Mimsieur 
Rozier, and recounts an experiment perfisrmed in the estab- 
lishment d* Monsieur Thome, a considaraUe sOk Cultivator, 
and one of the earliest writers on the subject. These gen- 
tlemen, Messrs. Rosier and Thome^ in the presence of 
many witnesses^ fired several pistolnabots in the apartment 
where dlkworras were either spimimg, or rising preparatory 
to their labor; and the only worm that dropped was evidently 
a sickly insect, that could not have fonaed its cocoon under 
any circumstances. 

It is seldom that any opinioa upon a point of practice is 
entertained, without some ground &k its existence. The 



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Italian peannts, although certainly wrong in attributing^ any 
evil effects to the agency of noise, might have been correct 
bad they ascribed the evil to that great accumulation of elec- 
tricity in the atmosphere which attends the discharge of the 
floid, from one cloud which is overchuged upcm another 
which is deficient; or which accompanies the fluid in its 
firasage ^between the clouds and the earth, until an equilib- 
rium estoblishes itself in the mass. ^Before this equilibrium 
is gained, however,** says Monsieur Eozier, ** we know that 
many persons e^^ibit symptoms oi stronff excitement, felling 
into eonvulaions, or even being aflfected by fever. Is it, then, 
pt^rpr^ngf that insects charged with a matter so highly 
electric as silk should become oppressed or overpowered by 
the superaddition of that wbieh they receive ^nm the atmo- 
sphere r* The peasants in the i^ilk provinces of France have 
long been accustomed to place pieces of ircm in the neighbor- 
ho(M of the iiHiects. If asked to assign their motive for this, 
their reply is, that their fiithers and grandfathers did so be- 
fore them, and that therefore the practice must be desirable. 
May we not imagine tfakt tiiis custom had its rise from the 
remarks cf some {^ilosophic observer of the laws of nature, 
and who, imder other and more ftvorable circumstances, 
might have beenied, by generalizing, to anticipate the dis- 
coveries of Franklin! 

Monsieur Rosier, inlthe work already <]uoted, recommend- 
ed the use of metallic conductors; and hunself proved their 
efficacy. In connexion with some dielves containing silk- 
wonns, he placed thin iroa wires, and carried them through 
the wall into a cistern of water, l^e renudning shelves 
were, in every' other respect, similarly circumstanced to 
these ; but he uniformly found that, when thus protected, the 
worms were decidedly more heahhy and active than those 
]pnprovMed with condii^r9» ' ' 



Digitized Ijy 



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1S4 . SILK MANUFiLGTimX. FASTIU 

CHAP. V.„ 
QATtamstn ahd Boaentm oooooml 

Ifetbod of Gatheriof .--Sorting;.— Selecting for Seed;— Proportion set mguk 
tar Breeding.— Methods of destroying Vitality of Chry8a!idtai.-^ly tte 
flotar Raya.— In Oveoa— By St«am Heat.— PresarVatiott of Coocxnu.— 
Separation of Damaged.— Good Cocoons.- Pointed Coeoona.— CocaliM|> 
— Dupions. — Soufflons. — Perforated Cocoons.— Clioquettea. — Cak^MM Oo- 
eoona.— Their Relative Value.— Proportion of Pure Silk in C o e o f a — 
ProportioAal Weight of Egga.and Cocoons; nnd of Mulbeny Ijenvea.— 
Quantity of Reeled Silk firow e«ch Cocoon.— Weight and Sbe.— I<nbpr 
reqnired.— Deductions. 

Ill either three or four days from the coniin^acenieDt of iIb 
labors the silkworin coaiidetes its cocoon,. aad in seven or 
ei^t days thereafter the balls are fathered. Some . pe^raeiig 
do not wait longer than three or four days ere they reap their 
■Uken harvest 

It is usual to beg^ hv gathering from the lower tier of 
arbors. In this pnx^eecong no violence should be used to 
disengage the twigs, ivhieh must be gently handled, and oon- 
ngned to those whose employment.it is to separate the eo» 
cooBS. These persons, as they pick off the balls, sort them^ 
selectuig those which are to be preserved for continuing the 
breed, and putting into distinet baskets all fine coooons, those 
which are double, soiled, or anywise imperfect The fine 
and well-formed balls are again subdivided into white and 
yeUow, the ktter color en^iracing every shade fix»i the 
deepest yellow to those whiclr are merely tmged. A v&y 
few win sometimes be found having a pale-green hue. The 
cocoons of a bright yellow yield a greater weight of re^ed 
silk than the others^ but as their deeper color re^ts firom the 
greater proportion of gum wherein the cdoring matter prin- 
cipally resides, any advantage from this source accrues only 
to the grower, the ^ummy substance being all boiled oat 
previous to the weavrng of the silk. 

Raw silk which is of pale color is found to take certain 
dyes better, and is on that account very generally preferred. 

The selection of chrysalides for brewing is made from 
such cocoonsj as are perfectly sound, and whose threads ap* 
pear to be fine ; having- their ends round and compact ; and 
being a little depressed in the middle, as if tightened by a 
ring or ligature. The reason given for attention to theiO 
particulars, is the belief that worms producing such balls are 
of the strongest constitutions Count Diandolo was of (^pio* 



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COUkP* ▼• GATHBieiirO AXD fOBTIKO COCOONS. 125 

km tbat too touch sbress is laid utpcm this point, and that aJl 
eocoons wiiich are perfectly formed are alike desirable for 
breeding. For this purpose an equal number of males and 
females must be preserved. The former are distinguisha- 
ble bjT being sharper at the ends, and thu, adthoufifh not an 
unerring guide, proves sufficiently correct for all practical 
norposes. These cococms are scmietimes spread in thin 
layers on tables: but it seems a better practice, and one 
more generally adopted; to string them together on a 
thread, care being taken not to pass the needle too deep into 
the mlk. These brings, three or four foet in. length, are 
then hung in festoons out of the reach of vermin. U%e floss 
is, in this case, usually removed, as it is found to oppose ad- 
ditional difficulty to the moth in ^ts extrication. 

In making the selectii^ of cocoons for breeding, so as to 
insure the object of maintaining the numbers of his silk- 
worms, the cultivator constdete it necessary to set apart one 
sixtieth of his whole {nroduce. This shows how consideraUe 
must be the loss sustained in this branch of the pursuit If 
all ibe eggs produced by this proportion were found produo- 
tive, the brood would by their means be trebled in the fol- 
lowing season. 

The next proceeding is that of destroying the vitalitv of the 
chrysalides in those cocoons which are to he reeled. Yarions 
mettiods are employed for this purpose, according to the nature 
of the climate ; the solar rays being m some instances found 
sufficient, no artificial means need te then resorted to. Di this 
case, a calm and cloudless dav is chosen, and the cocoons are 
leA exposed to the scorching beams of the sun, during four or 
five hours in the middle of ^e dav. Iliey are next closely 
enwrapt in coarse cloths which mve been exposed to the 
same neat, black cloths' being chosen preferably on account 
oi their absorbing a greater quantum of heat These pro- 
cesses being repeated durinfif several days, the destruction of 
the insect is usually attamed. ^ It is not safe, however, 
without examination, to confide in its efficacy ; for this trid 
a lew chnrsalides must be strij^ied and jnrickea with a needle. 
If upon this they ^ve no sign of animation, it mar be safely 
eoncluded that their suffi)cation has been perfected. 

In more temperate regions artificial means must necessa- 
rily be emi^ed, and recourse is therefore had to the heat 
of steam, or of an oven ; ^ and most frequently the latter meth- 
od is adoftod, idthough there is no reaiKm to doubt that the 
other, provided it could be efficaciously applied by means 
of amvemmA araaratus, wpuld be more qmck ana certain 
L2 



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136 BOM MAIIlTFAOTinUS. PAXPtb 

Id its operatioii, as well as productive of le« ii^ttrf to M 
texUire of the silk. When the oven is med, the oooooas wn 
placed in long shallow baskets, filled to within an inch i£ 
their tops, luad covered, first with paper, and then with m 
cloth wrapper. The heat of the oven wherein the baskets 
are disposiBd has not been niore {nrecisely defined, thaa thfllit 
should be very neariy that of an oven from which loaMfcf 
breiHl have just been taken after being baked. The wsOHi 
are exposed to this heat during an hour ; and on their Mi( 
withdrawn, it is ascertained by the examinatiouof cfaijiria]iisi| 
taken from the centre of each basket, whether the vnalitv^ 
the worms is destroyed. Those chosen fee examination'lMP- 
ing been, from their position, the least exposed to the bagt^ ll 
is fiiirly presumed that if these be^dead the «tele are ecfil^ 
destroyed. On their removal firom the oven, th« baskets «• 
wrapped in woollen cloths or blanksto, and poedott etok 
other. If the baking has been properly conducted* the Uarih 
ets will soon appear prc^usely covered with moistare, And if 
this should not be seen, the baking has been either excessive 
ot insufficient If too great, the worms and cocoons will have 
been previouslv so much dried as to leave no fiirther noislare 
to transude; if too little, the heat has not suffici«itl^ pene- 
trated to distil the liquor which the chrysalides oonlmai, and 
the worms, in that case, will not be deprived of vitality. 

k is obvious that very great nicety is required to limit tkt 
decree of heat to the exact point t^at will ^1 the chrysaiide^ 
and it is of great importance that this point shall not be ex* 
ceeded, as 3ie silken fikments would by sodb means be Uh 
jured. For this reason steam would doubttess be muck 
more frequently used^ if any simjple apparatus wepe iotro- 
duced fbr the purpose. Where this agent is now emnloyedi 
its effici^icy is so limited that the operation is ttvMemxm 
and the result uncertain. 

A large wooden vessel is provided, into wMdi boiling water 
is pour^S to the depth of two feet This vessel has within it 
a mcker hurdle, entirely covering the wat^, imd supported 
about one inch distant from its tm&ifie. Ths bottom of iim 
hurdle is provided with a coarse porous clo^eastfy peoe* 
trable by steam : en this the cocoons are {daced,4uid wa» «qiv)» 
ered w^l over te confine the heat Whea the water Jhas be- 
come so cool that it no longer emitsa bod^p^ of tteam, itmoat 
be changed for other hoiimg water ; ajid it is considered ne^ 
cessary to continue this steaming process fyr two -hofini, be* 
hte the destruction of the ohrys^ides can be considered oer> 
tain. If steam w^re differently a^fdied, a lew numrttti 



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€}»&K V* 0ATH13EII9O JQtfD WtmUfG CQGOOITS. l!l7 

w<Ndd mtfBoe ^r perfecting^ this object The cocoong, when 
reiaa ve d ftom the steaming vessel, are covered over with the 
same €iire as is employed after baking, and thev are left to 
eooA. very gradoallj^. After this they are sfHread out in the 
«ir and sun to dissipate the moisture they have iralNbed.^ 

it if always des»aUe, where time can be allotted to the 
purpose, liNit the process of reeling should h^ perfi)rnied witln 
out ^e delay iM^ich renders this (^traction of the worms ne- 
cessary. This, in large establishments, is evidently hnprae- 
ticable as regards any very considerable proportion of the 
produce ; but it must be always performable to a certain ex- 
tent; tfnd it is proper to give the preference, in this rei^iect, 
to such cocoons as appear the weake^: the others, which 
contain a greats proportibtt of gum, are thence better quali- 
fied to sustain heat without injury. 

When the process, itowever cmklucted, for destropng the 
w<»rms has been perfected, the cocoons are placed on shelves, 
and must be continually turned and looked over, lest they 
flhoold become tnouldy. If any appear spotted or otherwise 
dimaffed, they must be separated to prevent the injuiy 
spreading to those bails with which they 4re in contact, and 
ifaould TO immediately reeled to stay the progress of their 
4»wn destruction. lArge estaUi^moits wr inducing mSk 
comprise in them buildings exclusively appropriated to tlmi 
fHfrpose, and which are called ooconiiret. These are rooms 
fitted up with ranges of dielveslrom two to three feet above 
esdi «Pther, and the whole are insulated from the walls and 
toof, lest the place should be invaded by rats or mice, wMeh 
WcuM infellibly destroy the cocoons in their eagerness to 
ireaeh ^die chrjrsalides, of which they are immoderately fend. 
£teill fer&er to guard against this havoc, the legs of tbe 
4Niming which supports &e ^hdves shoukl be enveloped in 
iflome f&zy or jmckly substanca 

After the separation of cocoons for Ineeding, the gcthering 
» divided into nine difierent qualities. 

1. Oood eooDOtt^ are those which have been brought to pre- 
fecdoo : these are by no means the largest, but are compact 
ttod fi-ee fhAn S^totB. * 

2. PHnted coctions have one extremity rismg m a point : 
tiiese* after aifordmg a little silk in reeling, br^ or tear at 
tiie point where^the tiiread is weak, and they cannot be wound 
ibrtner, as theirfracture would occOr as often as the thread 
Mncfaed the weak pdnt 



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128 UUiK MANirFACTtmE* FABT W 

a Coeahni are ratli«r larger than reffolar cocoons, bat d9 
Dot coDtain more silk, their texture oeing leas contact 
These are separated from the other kinds, because in windii^; 
they must be immersed in colder water, to avoid any iunmg 
or entangling in the operation. 

4. DupUms or ioMe oocoons. The threads of these are 
00 intertwined, that frequent breakings occur in reeling, and 
sometimes (liey cannot be wound at all. In any parcel of 
cocoons the proportion cf these will usually amount to oae 
per cent 

5. SouffUms. These are irery imperfect cocoons, with « 
loose contexture, sometimes even to so great a degree m to 
be trani^Nurent: these cannot be wound. 

6. Perforated cocoom, as their name denotes, have a b^ 
in the end, and for that reason cannot be reeled, as the fila- 
ment is fbund to be broken whenever it arrives at tbe pe^ 
foration. 

7. Good choquettes are cocoons wherein the insects have 
died before perfecting their task. These are known by the 
adhesion of the worm to the cocoon, which prevents its rat- 
tling when shaken. The silk of these is as fine as of the 
firs^entioned quality, but not so strong nor so brilliaat, and 
they must be wound separately, as they sometimes fiirase ia 
reeling. 

8. Bad choquettes are defective cocoons, spotted or rottea 
They furnish foul bad silk, and of a blackish color. 

0. Calcined cocoajM are those wherein the worms, afler 
having completed their cells, are attacked by a peculiar dis* 
ease, which sometimes petrifies them, and at other times r^ 
duces them to a white powder. In the former case they are 
called comfit cocoons, from the resemblance which is boine 
by the withered worm to a sugar-plum. The quality of the 
silk, so far from bein^ ihjur^ by this means, is generally 
excellent, and is even in |freater quantity than in the cocoons 
of healthy worms. Comfit cocoons may be distinguished by 
the peculiar rattling noise c^ the worm when shaken : tiiey 
are so much esteemed in Piedm<mt, that they sell fix one 
half more than good cocoona They are not of frequent oo 
currence, and it is very rarely that so large a parcel as twen- 
ty-five pounds is met with. 

The cocoons of the mountains are considered better thai 
ihose produced oa the plains: there is a greater proportioB 
of white found among them; and althouffh the baUs are not 
00 large, the worm is proportionally smaller than usual 

The relative value of cocoons, as stated in the paper al- 



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CttAP, Vk OATHESING AT^J SORTING COCOONS. 129 

readf^QOted from the American Philosophical Transactionst 
is as follows : — 

Good cocoons ------------ lOQ 

Perforated ^-- 83| 

Soufl^ms *- 25 

Royal cocoods, for seed -•---. 250 
Royal cococMiB, not chosen for seed 200 
Cocoons lose in weight aboiitJ7| per cent in the coarse of 
ten days by the desiccation <^ the dirysalis : to those, there- 
fore, who sell theiVjcocoons previoudy to reeling, it is an ad- 
^rantage to dispose of them as socm as gathered. In 1000 
oimoes of ped^t cocoons, the chrysalides weigh 845 ounces, 
the envek^ cast by the worms on becoming chrysalides 4^, 
and the ^ure cocoon 150} ounces. Thus ^bch healthy co» 
comi, as it is gathered, containa mcHre than the seventh part 
(^ pore cocoon; but the quantity of reeled silk obtained sel- 
dom averages more thim one twelfth in weight of the gather^ 
ed eooeoDB, Mayet reckons, that if tl^y are of soperior 
^udity, ten pounds of cocoons will produce (me pound of silk; 
OBt that it more generally require^ eleven or twelve pounds 
as gathered to yield that quantity. The same author like- 
wise esthnates 250 <xxxx)ns to weigh one pound : count Dan* 
dolo found th^ 240 of his made up that weight. 

If no loss be sustained either in hatdiing the eggs or in 
rearng the worms, it is possiUeto obtain from each ounce 
of eegs 165 pounds^ weight of cocoons: whatever less in 
weigiS is derived ih>m ttes quantity of ^gs indicates the 
exact amount of loss and damage sustainecL In some part* 
of Italy, where the mode of management iff veiy d&fective, 
only ^ pounds of cocoons are obtained from eacn ounce of 
eggs: the average quantity is about 100 pounds. Count 
Dandolo usually acquired on his establishment, from this 
we^t (^effgs, about 140 pouikls of fine picked cocoons, in 
addition to ma coarse floss with which they were surrounded. 
In the year 1790, the Society for the Ekicouragement of 
Arts, &C. adjud^ their gold m^al to Mr. Salvator Berte- 
sen, fyr Ins navii^ produ<^ five pounds' weight of nlk from 
worms rested in England. Thi&gentlemto professed to have 
a auperior l»eed of worms^ and tluit his^ manner of managing 
them was also better than that usually followed. The above 
quantity of silk, which was wound in seven to nine fibres, 
was said to be the produce of 12,000 worm& This fact wa» 
much controverted at the time, and the quantity was deemed 
excessive with reference to the number of worms ; but there 
■ appears to be litde reason for doubting its conectnesi^. 



igitif«rty Google- 



130 BILK HANUFJICTUItK. PAfif R. 

as liie proportion very nearly agrees with the recorded egq^ 
rience of count Dandolo.* 

This nobleman gives many elaborate caJculadons in his 
volume, the results of some df which may be found interest- 
ing. According to his experience, about 974 pounds ci mol* 
berry leaves wiU suffice ^r the production or 7^ pounds of co- 
coons ; these will yield about 18 ounces of pure cocoon, from 
which only 10 ounces of reeled silk are generally obtained. 
Thus the proportion between the weight of mulberry leaves 
consumed, and that of tlie pure cocoon produced, is about 87 
to 1 ; and the proportional weight of mulberry leaf and of 
reeled silk is as 152 to. 1. The ratio between the quantity 
of reeled silk drawn from the cocoon and the cocoon itsetiC 
may be greatly afiected by the good or ill management to 
which the worm is subjected. 

In the year 1814, when the season was extrem^ onfli- 
vorable to the rearinj^ of silkworms, the count obtained 15 
ounces of very fine ^k from 7| pounds of cocoons, and 13 
ounces from me same weight of refuse cocoon& This &ct 
speaks very highlv for his excellent management The pro* 
portion between the weight of silk which can be reeled, and 
the coarse floes which can cmly be spun, should, in perfect 
cocoons, be in the average ratio of 19 to 1. In addition to 
this prop(Mrtion c^refrise loss, there is likewise to be gathered 
the outer floss, which is a loose, furzy texture, spun by the 
wonns preparatory to the formation of their balls: the nature 
of this substance, together witi|^ the injurv that it sustains in 
its disengagement flmm the arbors, entirely prevent its being 
reeled. It is usually in the proportion of about four to eleven 
with the silk of the cocoon. 

The weight ^d length of reeled silk that can be obtained 
from each cocoon are very variously stated by.diflferent ao- 
tiiors : in fiu;t, the (quantity is found to vary oonsideraUy, de- 
pending on many curcumstances attendant oil its formation. 
Some statements on the subject have been extravagantly alh 
surd. Among others, Isnard, an old author, who has beei| 
before quoted, and whose delight in the marvellous has, fm 
this point, found rivals even in the present day, aflirms ihft 
the silk oTone cocoon, when drawn out, wiU measure six 
miles in length, that is 10,560 .yards 1 . Count Dandolo, at 
once, contracts this measurement more within the limits of 
probability. He found that a silkworm^s labore seldom ex- 
ceed the production of 025 yards ;t an astonishing qut»- 

* ' ' • ■ ■ ■■ , y 

♦lf©^Z; 1 1700 Froncb feet, 



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J 



ettJU^. f. OATWS&m^ AKI) SORTING tOCOOff&. 101 

tHy, when we reflect upon the brief period employed by M 
sauJl a creature in its production.* ' Surely it is unnecessary 
to call in the aid of exaggeration more highly to excite our 
wonder. 

Miss Rhodes of Yorkshire found that one of her largest 
cocoons measured 404 yards. Pullein considers the average 
to be 300 yards. Miss Rhodes found that her cocoons wei^ 
ed three grains each. Count Dandolo calculates the weight 
to be 3^"^ grains, equal to about 3^ English grains. 

The size of an ordinary cocoon of good quality is about 
an inch in its largest diameter, and one mird less in its small- 
est diameter. The largest diameter of du]Mons is an inch 
and a quarter, and their smallest diameter three quarters of 
an inch. 

The attendance required for the care of silkwormg does 
not wholly occupy the time of those employed, and it is, 
th^re^re, difficult to ascertain its amount with correctness* 
Pullein states, ^at for rearing the worms produced from six 
ooDces of eggs two attendants are necefisaiy until the fourth 
a^, and that ailer this period five or six persons are required. 
(xMmt Dandolo, with his accustomed accuracy, reduces the 
time required for attendance upon the produce of five ounces 
of eggs to an equality with one hundred days* continuous 
labor of one individual. 

From these data it is fofond^ that to obtain one pound of 
reeled silk it requires 12 pounds of cocoons; that rather 
more than 2800 worms are employed in forming these cch 
coons; and that to feed these during their caterpillar state, 
152 poonds of mulberry leaves must be gathered. This 
pound of reeled silk is capable of being converted into six« 
teen yardSof gros de Naples of ordinary qualify or into four- 
teen yards of the best description. 

Experience Ims shown that some regulation of temperature 
is necessary in producing the moths firom the cocoons. If 
the heat in which these are placed be above 73^, their tran- 
ntion would be too rapid, and their productiveness would be 
lessened : on the other hand, if the temperature be below 
06^, th^ development of the moths is tardy, and tiieir pro- 
duce equally fails below the due |Rop(Nrtion. 

The moths i^iould begin fa issue from their concealment 
in about fifteen days. The female deposits her eggs upon 
iheets of paper, or strips of linen, wMdi are then hung m a 
eeol situation, and when dry are preserved in m airy place, 
msA securely shielded firom damp and firom vermin. In 
lotkiag choice of a situatioa wherein to store these eggs fyg 



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133 njx. nA:svm^,atuKJi• .tamt O- 

the winter, althoogh it b neceeeary t^ hecp them eoc^ tbKt 
premature liatchinff may be avoided, it is, on the other hnA 
indispensably requ^ite to preserve them from too lateBse « 
degree of cold : a temperature wherein water will freevK 
w^M be in&llibly detractive of. their vitality. 



CHAP. VL 

DlgBASBi OF SILKWmUtt. 

General reealt from Bad Treatment.— SUkwoAns freqnently Tearod in OdI* 
tages of Peasanu.— Count Dandolp.— His great Improvements.— Dando* 
lidres.— Me^itieAir.— Moieture.— Experiments.- Jaandice.— Bemedy.— 



Chlorine Gas.— Chloride of Lime.— Fumigation.— Light not in. 
Description of Apartmenu allotted ta Silkworms in Cottsfes.— pi Bf- 
fects which arise to their Attendants. ' 

Thx silkw(»rm is said to be sul^ect to' many diseMOSi 
There is reason for believing that most at all thebe wm 
either the consequences of bad treatment, or are easily coin* 
tcracted by simple remedies. Count Dandolo, to whose !»> 
corded experience reference has so often been made m tliese 
pages, was obliged to have recourse to other cultivators for 
the means nf describing diseases that did~ not exist in his 
own establishment. 

The custom which prevails in Italy and France of dis- 
tributing silkworms to be reared in the dwellings of the 
peasantry has confined the management principaSly to ti» 
hands of ignorande and prejudice ; and little or no improve- 
ment had in consequence been made in this part of rural 
economy until count Dandolo devoted himself to its refbroifk> 
tion, and thereby promoted a branch of industry highly mr 
portant to the prosperity of his native country. This noUe- 
man pursued the occupation with patriotic and i^iilosopfale 
aims mr different from such as usually churact^ize purawli 
of business. He brought scientific biowledge and eoii^A' 
ened views to the subject, and afS>rded a clear exemplmca- 
tion of the &ct, that there is no process, however simple, lo 
employments, however humUe, and which m^t af^fiarep^ 
be consigned without injury to -the hands of the untitagiit 
and unreflecting, that do not call fi»r the head as weii as the 
hand of man, to conduct them on rational principles, aad^ 
derive fixxn them all the beneficial results they wa^ he made 
capable of yielding. It is sddom that objects of {oofit aie 
thus undertaken and pursued. It most generally b» fy€H^ 
ttiat toils of this nature are assumed ftom nciceaai^ ^^-F^ 



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GOJir. TI« DI8XA8E8 OF SaSWOSHS. 138 

BOOS who think only of rei^laciBg them subservient to the 
calls of that necessity ; who have neither mind nor leisure 
for ezperunents ; and who, i£, bgr departing from the beaten 
track, they have roade^a greater ^t>ficienc^ tiuin their rivals, 
ure too- prone to keep secret their discoveries with a view to 
individual advantage. Count Dandolo was not thus satisfied 
to find out and to pursue the most advantageous methods, but 
widely dJaseminat^ the knowled^ of hid mode erf* treatment, 
not obIj by his writings, but by mviting the grei^ propria- 
tors, his countrymen, to send pu^s to' him, who might ob- 
tain practical instruction in bis methods. These pupils 
sometimes occasioned great losses to him, as in order to 
their acquiring the necessary degree of skill, they were 
somttimes allowed to act upon their own suggestion& ^ But 
this signifies little,*' he would say, ** compart to the advan- 
tage of difiusingaiid naturalizing the improved art of rear- 
in? silkworms hy means of these pupils.'* Shortly after the 
publication of his treatise, large estami^ments were formed 
in Lombardy, accenting to his recommendation : these were 
called DandoiUreg, as a testinumy of respect for his disinter* 
ested i^anthropv. 

The causes which pdncipal^ engender draeases in the 
silkworm appear to exist in euher damp, stagnate, or me- 
phitie air. Some experiments tried in order to ascertain the 
&ct show that damp air is even more prejudicial to them 
than mephitic (carbonic acid) gas.. If a silkworm be intr(>- 
daced into a receiver charged ^ith carbonic acid gas, and in 
which a bird would instanUy die, although the worm quicUy 
exhibits signs of uneasiness and «uflfering, it will live for ten, 
fifteen, or perhaps twenty minutes ; no warm-blooded animal 
could continue alive in sueh an atmosphere for half that 
time. 1£, after remaining a few minutes, the worm be with- 
drawn from the receiver, it will not exhibit any sign of in- 
jury, but will be, apparent^, as healthy as before inhaling 
this pernicious gas. The' silkworm appears endued with the 
power to seize upon the minutest portion of. vital air whicb 
may be held hy watrar, as it will hve for some minutcb un- 
mereed in this fluid, particularly in its^ first ages ; and, evea 
when seemingly dead, it will revive if taken out It wwM 
seem, however, thht when its power of breathing is obetniet* 
ed, the worm instently dies: if, instead c^ plunging it ia 
carbonic acid gas, or in water, its ei^teen breathing holes 
are sealed up with grease, it expires instantaneoudy. 

If a healthy silkworm be confined in a' ye^se], the air ia 
which 18 charged with moisture, and heated to the teoqieia" 
M 



dbyGoogk^ 



134 njtK liANtf»'ACltJSl6. ^ABt II 

ture of 68° or 00°, it will xew ioon exhibit symptoms of iif 
disposition, &nd reject food ; the skin will slacks the mns^ 
cles soften, and ci^tractien cease. In a short time evaponk 
tion will be obstmcted, the secretions indispensable to vital- 
ity, which are effected in this anunal by meana of contrac- 
tion,* wiU be suspended, and ere lonf it will perish. A 
warm-blooded animal, on the contrary, if suffidently «Op|died 
with pure air, can live without any suffering, aiKl pei^fonn 
all its functions without inconvenience, in^sucfa a tempera- 
ture, whatever be the attendatit degree ei moistiire. This 
proves how difibrent is the structure of these two claflses c^ 
animals. 

In the southern departm^ts -of Vnncti k is v^ commofi 
to see silkworms attacked by a disease which, in conse* 
quence of the color assumed by them, is called the jauQdice# 
Very careful examination is ocmtiiniaUy made for the discov- 
ery and removal of worms which may be thd9 attacked^ lest 
the disease, which is contaffiousf should spread to others. It 
is stated in the Bulletin Universe], that the abbe Eperic ci 
Carpentras had recourse in this case to a remedy, or rather a 
preventive, which, though apparently dangerous, has beei 
justified by the umform success of twenty years. By means 
of a fine silk sieve he powdered his worms with quicklime^ 
and after this gave them mulberry leaves moisterhed with a 
few drops of wine ; these the insects instantly commenced 
devouring with an eagerness greater than that which ther 
usually exhibited, and not one of the hurdles upon whi^ 
the worms were thus treated ever af^peared infected with 
jaundice. It was at first supposed that the cococms might 
be injured by this ]»x>ce8s ; but this is not the ease^ and the 
method is now.^ry frequently adopted in the department of 
Vaucluse. 

It is weH known that de<!ay€d leaves emit flie^tic air 
abundantlv* and the lime may have been efficacious m absorb^ 
inff and fixing this as it was generated, leaving the atmo* 
sphere inhaled by the insecte in a desirable state c^ parity.f 

Mons. i^anchard records the following exp^rhnent, which 
iatisfectorily proves the efficady of the use or Mme :— •• I pro- 
cured," he said, <* four glass jais^ nine indies deiep and five ia 
diameter, and proviikd them with eork stoppers* In each of 
ti»es6 glasses^ ^aced twelve silkworms at tbeir second age^ 

. * The skin o^ Uie silkwonn has so crett a power ef contraction, that on 
oeinff cut throtfgh it thrinks in the manner of am elastic substance tkai 
has been drawn oiii. 
t Note A A.. 



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^^X^^^.. -.^ - - 



CaAP. VI. DISBASBS OF SILKWOBMS. 135 

thesd were fed lour times a day, and I confined them in thi» 
kind of prison all their lives, without taking away either 
their dead companions or their litter. I sprinkled with lime 
the worms of only two of these jars, and kept the two others 
to compare with them. In those without lime, I never. oh* 
tained more, or less than three, small and imperfect cocoons, 
and in the two that were sprinkled with lime I had very often 
twelve, and never less than nipe fine full-sized firm co« 
coons.*' Mens. Blanchard ascertained, by many trials, that 
the worms were not incommoded when covered with a large 
portion of lime. 

Ccnint Dandolo advises fumigation with chlorine gas ; but 
the mode of producing this from black oxide of manganese, 
common salt, and sulphuric acid, might be attended with un« 
pleasant consequences, if intrusted to ignorant or careless 
hands, and to mhale the vapor as generated is not only un- 
pleasaDt but dangerous. Chloride of lime, the use c^ which 
10 attended with highly beneficial results as a disinfectant, 
and in neutralizing the pernicious d^cts of mephitic vapors, 
might prove advantageous in silkworm establishments, pro* 
Slicing all the ^ood efi^ts of fumigation with chlorine ^^as^ 
without hazardmg any of the pernicious result? which might 
accompany th^ latter application. 

Among the peasants df France and Italy there is a practice 
of fumigating the room^ where the insects are kept with some 
kind of ar(»natic gum^or odoriferous . plant, but these only 
aerve to conceal without correcting the effluvia which should 
warn the attendants of the necessity ^ cleanlmess, and in- 
stead <^ removing increase the evil. - . 

Many persons believe that light is injurious to silkworms ; 
but, 80 &r from this opinion being correct, the opposite belief 
would probably be nearer to the txuth. ; In its native state, 
the insect is of*^ course eifponod to light, and su^rs no incon* 
venience on that account; and it luis been pteerved by one 
who gave much attention to the subje6^^11^t m his establish^ 
ment, ^'onthe side on which the sun shone directly on the 
hurdles, the silkworms were more numerous and stronger 
than in those places .where the edge of the wicker huralo 
formed a shade.'* The obscurity wnerein the q^rtments are 
usually kept has a very pernicious influence on the air : the 
food of the worms emits in light oxygen, or vital air, while 
in darkuess it exhales carbonic acid gas, unfit for respiration. 
This well-'known fact occurs alike with all leaves simUarly 
nirciiiQptanced,* To the bad effects thus arising from the 



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1S6 8ILK MAmrFAcnrsB. pisriim 

•xcldiioli of the son's rays, snofber evil is adided by fhe 
nature of the artificial lights employed being sach as sdll 
further to vitiate the air. 

An almost incredible quantity of fluid is constantly disen- 
gaged by evaporat»>n from the bodies of the insects; ai^ if 
means be not taken to disperse this as it is produced, another 
cause of unwhdesomeness in the air arises^ Noticing thk, 
count Dandolo observes, ** This series of causes of the dete- 
fioration erf* the air which the worms must Inhale may be 
termed a continued conspiracy against their health and life ; 
and their resisting it, and living through it, shows them to 
have jpreat stren^ of constitution/* 

Bemre this noMeman so zealously undertook the work of 
relbrm, the poor sHkworms had to struggle througka nuseraUtsi 
existence, until, their numbers thinned by toith, and their 
fimmes weakened by disease, they feebly began to spin that 
thread which would have been produced superior in quality 
and much greater in quantity Imd they befen more judiciously 
tended. By his metiM)dical arrangements, t&e accidents or 
seasons and external temperature ate no knger fennidaUe. 
hk 1814, a year peculiarly ttn&vorable fbr rearing these in- 
sects, and which ptoveA extensiv^y &tU in other estaUish- 
mente, he continued his operations #ttli ihe dame unvaried 
Mgttbrity, and, With peifAp^ indredi.sM ^tecautioiis, was ulti- 
mately rewitt^ed by me wsM m^oeab. 

In noticmg iie system already nlenti6iied of disitribc^ing 
, i^kworms amoi^ the dwellings of the neaskntry, count Dan^ 
dok> gives the lowing distressing picture:—*^ In general 
the rooms appropriated to rearin|f silkWcnrms among uie ten- 
Ants, ftrmerSj^ and comiiion, cultivators, have the appearance 
of cataeombe; I say in ^neral, for there are isdme rew who^ 
ai&ough they may ndt have dll tlie requisites fi>r rearing 
worms in petlection, yetiiave care sufficient to preserve them 
from any Very severe disease. 

** I have found, on entering the room in whidi these insects 
were redred, that the>^"^ere damp, Ul lighted by lamps fed 
with rancid oil ;' the air cc^rupt and stagnant to a decree 
that impeded riespiration ;. disagreeable efBuvia disguised 
with aromaticS; the wickers too close together, covered vrith 
fermenting litter upon which the silkworms were pining. 
The air was never renewed except by the breaches whidi 
time had worn in the doors and windows; and what made 
this more sad and deplorable was the knowledge that the 
persons who attended to th^se insects, however healthy they 
might have been when they entered upon the employment, 



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Cttll», Vir. FEEDI2«:0 Sn^KWORMS. 137 

lost their health, their voices became hollow, their hues 
pallid, and they had the appearance of valetudinarians, aa if 
issuing from the very tombs, or recovennff from Bome dread- 
ful illnees," 



CHAP. vn. 

ATmiFTB TO arUBS^nrUTE OrrSKR FOOD rOR MTLBERRY LKAVI9 
IN REARIMO SILKWORMS. 

Doctor Bellardi'B Experiment —Lettuce Leaves.— Comparative Produce of 
Worms fed witlj tliete and with Mulberry Leaves.— Alias Shodes*s Ezperit 
aiEMts.'-Lettuee Leaves sueeessAUly used in a Hot-House.— Mrs. Wil- 
ttmos's Experiments.— Natural Antipathy of Silkworms.- Leaves of 
#Dorzonera. — Recent Attempt to rearSilkyvorms in England.- Abandoned 
ibr want of iUflteient and appropriate Food. 

It must alwa^jp be a subject of anxious attention with the 
rearer of silkworms so to mae the hatching of his eggs as to 
cause ih^ coming &rth of the living insecjt^ at t& eeasoQ 
when tfie mulberry tree first comes into leaf. 

By the aid of artificial means, and with methodical arrange*- 
ments, this would appear to be a very simple afiair ; and yet 
^o great have the difficulties been in practice, that various 
ex^dients haye from time to time been proposed and attempt* 
0d for combating them. 

Great industry has been empWed to seek out 3ome sub* 
ititute for the natural food of the worm, which should be 
readily procurable at all seasons, and in sufficient abundance 
to render the cultivator independent ofth^ chiwices which atr 
tend the buddmg of the mulberry tf^e. Dr. Lodovico BeK 
lardi, a learned and ingenious botanist of Turin, after making 
numerous experiment^, and &iling to discover any eligible 
^bstitute for the mulberry, at length proposed a method of 
Reding such silkworms as.^ould be premature^ly hatched, 
upon leaves of the preceding reason carefiilly dried and pre* 
pared for the purpose. The trials made by uie doctor were 
aecompanied by all the success he eould desife. 

The leaves which had been gathered in fine weather to- 
wards the close of the preceding autumn, and befinre any in- 
jury from frost could have bien experienced, were first 
iqpread on cloths and dried in the sun, and then reduced to 
powder ; this was preserved through the winter in a perfectly 
dry pJace. Before giving it as food to his newly-hatched 
broooTthe powder was shglitly moistened with water, and a 
Ibin lajejr of it being placed around the insects, they mm^ 
M ? 



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138 BILK XANtJFiLCTUBS. ^ PAST U. 

diately and wi^ avidity began to fbed, preferring it to every 
sul^tute which was offered^ and thriving upon it satis&o- 
torily. 

While .the hope still remained of naturalizing the silkwonoa 
in England, the means of procuring a sufficient supply of 
appropriate food was cononered as one of the greatest fl^ 
stacles to its success ; and the attention of such persons as 
interested themselves in the pursuit was consequently en- 
gagedy in ascertaining by experiment whether other leaves 
mui those furnished by the mulberry tree might not be &var- 
ably substituted. 

Among others, the Rev, Mr. Swayne exhibited much anx- 
iety for the success of this object, with ike praiseworthy 
desire of providing profitable emplojrment for such of the 
poorer classes as might be too feeble for manual labor, most 
of the duties required in attendance upon the silkw(mn being 
such as can easily be fulfilled by women, children, mnd aged 
persona 

This jTentleman made various trials as to the relative 
merits of dififerent kinds of nourishment For this puipose 
he placed equal numbers of newly-hatched worms in three 
different boxes, which he numbered 1, 2, and 3. The con- 
tents of number 1. he fed entirely with leaves at the ^diite 
mulberry; the insects in number ^ were nouriished with 
those of the black mulberry ; and the worms in number 3l 
were fiimished with lettuce leaves until their fiirst age was 
passed, and thereafter with the black mtdberry lea£ These 
last worms were of a paler color, and grew more rapidly 
than the others. The i^ult, however, seems to prove that, 
although lettuce leaves may yield bodily nourishment to the 
insect, they coiltribute litue towards the secretion (^that 
peculiar matter which constitutes its value. When the 
spinning had been completed, twelve of the finest cocooog 
were chosen from «ach of the three dii4sions, and were 
found to be of the following' weights: — 

Cocoons of No. 1. weighed 7 dwts. 2 graina 
Dkto • No. a .6-3 
Ditto • No. a -6-0 

Neither of these results was. very encouragiiig to the culti- 
vator, but the experiment clearly evinced the superiority of 
the white mulbeny over the otiier kinds of nourisiiment. 

Many communications upon this subject are to be found in 
the volumes recording the Transactions of the Society for 
tiie Encouragement of Arts^ &C. A letter fir«n Miss Rhodes 



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\ 



OHJ :P. Vn. FVBDING 8BLKW01ll|»« iSd 

reli tea, that in the summer of 1785, she sobsisted several 
thoi isand worms entirely on lettuce leaves during three 
we( ks, and that for the remaining short term of their lives 
she afforded them their natural food. At the end of a month 
fronk their first hatching they began to spin, and eleven 
ounces of silk were procured from four thousand cocoons. 
After repeated trials, this lady had become convinced that 
silkworms could not safely be fed on lettuce leaves for a 
longer period than three weeks ; as on persitting further in 
their use, the greater part of the worms died without forming 
their cococms. Some, indeed, possessed sufficient vigor to 
spin and to produce perfect and well-formed balls, even wheii 
lettuce leaves had constituted their only food. Reasoning 
from this fact. Miss Rhodes was brought to suspect ^at the 
premature mortality of her brood was not altogether occa- 
aoned by the unwholesome nature of the aliment on which 
they had fed, but might be owing to some extraneous circum- 
stance; and fiirther observation led her to the conclusion 
that It was the coldness of the lettuce leaves rather than any 
inherent property which made them detrimental This lady 
having thence suggested that if the worms were kept in a 
higher temperature, they might be successfullv supported 
through their lives on lettuce leaves, general Mordaunt 
caused a considerable number to be hatched and reared in 
hb hot-house. These were fed entirely on lettuce leaves; 
they throve and went through all their mutations as satisfac- 
torily as if fed with their natural nourishment ; scarcely any 
among them died, and the number and quality of the cocoons 
that were gathered proved the entire success of the experi- 
ment If a solitary trial be sufficient to establish a fiLCt, ihm 
must certamly be satis&ctory to those who consider it desi- 
rable to naturalize silkworms in this country, where, owing 
to the inequality of reasons, the appearance of mulberry 
leaves must alwavs be uncertam in regard to time. Lettuce 
leaves have an advantage over other vegetables which have 
been offered as substitutes for the mulherry, that they mav 
be gathered in wet weather without themselves being wetted, 
as a lettuce, <mce cabbaged, resists the entrance of all 
motsture within; and the heart beincr always perfectl;^ dry, 
insured nourishment to ihe worm. See from tnat moisture 
which is always found to affect it injuriously. 

Mrs. Williams, an earlier correspondent of the society 
whose *♦ Transactions" have been quoted^ ffives a very minute 
and copious account of the various truub which she made 
of vegetable sabstances as substitutes for molberry leaves. 



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140 «MJt MAytTFACTUBB, FAET tt, 

Havwr hatched her brood in severely cold weather, when 
evenrettuces were not e^ilv procurable, she offered to her 
worms the tender ports of blackberry leaves, and relates that 
the worms ate them greedily. She next presented to them 
yoimjg^ leaves of the elm, and reports that equal success at- 
tended this trial: encouraged by these facts, she then suc- 
ceeded in causing the insects to feed on the leaves and flow- 
ers of the sweet cowslip and primrose. But meanwhile the 
mulberry had put forth its leaves, and having procured some 
of these for her brood, it was thenceforth vain to offer them 
any other kinds of food : all were rejected ; and another 
proof was aflbrded, that the mulberry tree, which no other 
msect will attack, is alone adapted to the natural desires of 
the silkwwm. Mrs. Williams records one peculiarity which 
discovered itself throughout her investigation ; by no means 
could the worms be brought to touch any flower of roseate 
hue. Pinks, roses, sweet-williams, polyanthpses, were each 
in turn offered by this persevering lady, and were all rejected 
without hesitation^ It is proper to remark, that these experi* 
ments of Mrs. Williams are not confirmed by those of any 
other person, but, on the ccxitrary, that Miss Rhodes was un- 
succe^iful in every endeavor to repeat them, and succeeded 
cmly in reconciling her silkworms^ the use of lettuce and 
spinach. 

Attempts to discover a substitute for the mulberry are not 
entirely abandoned even at the present time. It is recorded 
in the Bulletin Universel^ for 1829» that mademoiselle Cog9 
of Epinal has used with success the leaves of the scorzoner* 
(viper-grass) for the nouri3hment of silkworms. The sDk 
produced by worms fed on this leaf is represented to be in 
no respect inferior to thai from wprins tept m the natural 
food. 

Notwit^tanding, however, this last announcement, and 
the {Nirtial success so frequently recorded as jeittending the 
substitution of the lettuce, ajl practical cultivators of si}k 
continue to be convinced that it would .he unprofitable t^ 
feed their worms on any save their natund nourishment ; and 
the most intelligent writers on ^e subject api)rove the prac- 
tice ot destroying, as useless, anv worms, which through ill 
management may be hatched b^ore the mulberry tree has 
put forth leaves sufficient -for their support 

Recent attempts which h^ve been made to rear silkw<»rm8 
in England do not offer much encouragement to the pursuit 
except as matter pf athusement Sosme pairs of silk stock* 
ings of good quality a^e to be seen m .the |;«illery of ^ 1^ 



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OttAP* Tin* SIIiK VSOBtTCSD VT SPIBKS. 141 

National Itepobitbry," woven fiiom silk c^ home prodbctiflB. 
The worms which span this were reared by Mrs. Alleh of 
Wandsworth,^ the result of whose careful observati(His on this 
flobiect has been obtained. 

Tim difficulty of procuring a sufficient and continuous 
mimitf of proper fboA was the reason why this lady wa0 
obliged to relinquish a pursuit in which she had taken much 
pleasure for lour saccessive years. 

Mrs. Allen's testimony strongly^ corroborates the necessity 
of extreme cleanliness in preserving the h^ahh of the worms. 
Tike most scrupulous attention seems to have been paid bf 
her to this particular, as well as to the dryness of the leaves* 
and the temperature of the apartment wherein the insects 
were reared and set to spin ; and yet a very great mortality 
was alwajTs experienced among them, scarcely more than one 
in 6re of the worms that were hatched coming to maturity 
and fordiing their cocoons. ' Of tiiese it required 1000 to furi 
nkh an ounce i^ reeled silk, the floss beit^ equal to a quaiw 
ter of an ounce more. The cocoons were gathered in eight 
'days from theb commencement, and in eight days more were 
wound off No necessity h^nce arose for destroving the 
▼itali^ of tte Insects to prevent their piercing the balls. 
The dorysalides being placed In bran, in due time became 
motiis and produced eggs, each female furnishing between 
800 and 400. 



CHAP. vra. 

. ATfaMPni TO FRODUOB SILK IROM DIFFERXNT ANIMATK 
CEBATUBE8. 

The dpider.— Discovery by Mons. Bon.— Manner of Spiders produeinf 
their Web.>-Power of ptodndnff this of various Degrees of Tenuity.-*- 
Great number of Fibres composing one Filament.— Different Kinds of 
Threads.— Smder Bags.— Bilk made tmm these by M. Bon.— Manner of 
its Preparation.— Great Comparative Advantages adduced by M. Bon.~ 
His Spider Establishment.— Investigations by Reaumur.— His Objections. 
—Small Produce of Silk from'Spiders.- The Pinna.— Descript ion.— Deli- 
cacy of its Threads.— Reaumur's Observations.— Spinning Organ of the 
Pinna.— Manner of forming its Thread.-^How different from that of 
Land Insects.— Power of Continually producing new Threads.—" Tha 
Pinna and its Cancer Friend.**— Na,tu re of their Alliance.— Manner of 
taking the Pinna. -^ Its Threads known to. the Ancients.— Peculiar 
aualities of this Material. 

Thjb useful properties possessed by the produce of the sUk- 
worm, and the value which it has acquired among civilized 
communities, have, at various times, led ingeniora men to 
■eek among the works of nature for other substances, which^ 



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142 BOJL nAKirFAertntB* past u* 

pneenlinf appeanncea aDalo^oua to that beaotifiil filament, 
might be made equally conducive to human convenience and 
adornment 

Some species of ipiders are known to poaKCB the power of 
mat merely forming a web, but also of spinning, for the pro* 
lection ci their eggs, a W somewhat similftr in form and 
substence to the cocoon of the silkworm. At the commence* 
ment of the last century a method was discovered in France 
by Monsieur Bon, of procuring silk from these roiders' bags, 
and its use was attempted in the manufacture of several ai* 
tides. The following particulars are gathered from a diss^r^ 
tation published at the time by M. Boo, and also from papen 
on the subjeet inserted in ti^e volumes of the Royal Academy 
for the years 1710 and 1711. 

Sixers are usually classed according to their cUfierence of 
color, whether black, brown, yellow, A^, or sometimes by 
the number and arrangement of their eyes : of these organs 
aome possess no fewer than ten, others eiffht, {^ oSies9 
again siz. M. Bon has, however, notioed oiuy two kinds of 
silk spiders, and these he ha^ distinguished irom eaoh other 
as having either lonff or short legs, the last variety {nroducing 
liie finest quality of raw silk. According to this ingenious 
observer, the silk formed by these insects is equally b^tiful, 
' strong, and glossy with that formed b^^ the bombvx. The 

X'der spins minute fibres firom fine papillie, or epiall nipplei^ 
^ ced in the hinder part of its bod}r. These papillie serve 
the ofiice of 80 many wire-drawing irons, to form and mould 
a viscous liquor, which after being drawn through them dries 
on exposure to tiie air, and forms the silk. 

The celebrated naturalist M. Reaumur, who likewise be^ 
stowed considerate attention on these insects, discovered 
that each of their papillie consists of a number of smaller 
ones, so minute as not to be discernible, and only made evi- 
dent by tiie efiTects produced. If the body of the spider be 
pressed between the fingers, the liquor fhxn which the threads 
are formed flows into the papill®, by applying the finger 
against which, distinct threads may then be drawn out 
through the several perforationa of each papille. These 
threads are too fine to be connted with any accuracy, but it 
is evident that very, manj^ are sent forth firom each of the 
larger papillie. This fact tends to^xplain the power possessr 
ed by the ^ider of producing threads having difiTerent de- 
grees of tenuity. By applying more or fewer of these pa» 
pilliB against the place whence it begins its web, the spidei 

joins into one tbreod tb9 ajmpflt jmperceptiWe mdividuftl fil*» 



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tncnts whidi if draws fh)in its body ; the size of this thread 
being dependent on the nombe^ of nipples employed, and reg* 
filat^ l^ that instinct Whi^h tea<shes the crefttures to make 
choice of the! degree of exility inost a{^rq)riate to the work 
wherein it is about tb engage^ M* Bofi was able to distill^ 
guish fifle^ or twenty fibres in a single thread, while Reai|» 
tnur relate that Ife has often counted as many as sereiity or 
eighty fibres thr(mgh a microscope^ and perceived ^at there 
Were yet infinitely tnore than he could reckon ; so that he be- 
lieved himself to be far withiii the limit of truth in computing 
that the tip of each of the five pa|Hll« furnished 1000 septt- 
tale fibres: thus sU{^;x)eing that one slender filament of ft spi- 
der's web is made up of 5000 fibres \* 

The threads produced by spiders are of two kindft Tbd 
first, which serves only to form the web which tJie kisect 
spreads to entrap iti prey, is very fragile | while the second, 
which is used to inclose the egfifs of the female, is much 
stronger, thus «flS>rdiflg to them shelf er firoln Cdd, and pro- 
tection from other iifsects which tti^t otherwise ddsbioy 
thera* The threads are^ in this operation, wound veiy loosely 
round the eggs, in a shape resembling that of the cocoon ot 
the silkworm, ailer it has been prepn^^ and lodsened for the 
dtstafiT. When first fbrmed, the color of these spiders' bags 
is gray^ but, by exposure to the air, they soon acqtiire a 
Idackish hue. Other spider bags mi^t probably be found of 
other colors, atid a^^ing silk of better qttality, but th^ 
scarcity wottld render any experiment whh th^m difficult of 
accomplishment ; finr which reason M. Bod Confined his atten*> 
tion to the bags of the common sort of the short^l^ged kiiHL 

These always form their bags in sonie place sheltered firom 
tiie wind and rain, siich as the hoUow trunks of trees, the 
comers of windcrwsor Vaults, or under the eaves of houses. 
A quantity of thes^ bags was collected b||r M. Bon, fitAtt which' 
a new kind of silk Was made^ said to be in no*req^ect inferior 
to the silk of the bombyx« It took rdadlly all knids of dyes, 
and might have been w/ought into any desdrK)tion of silken 
hbnc4 Mr Bon had stockmgs and glotes made fVom it, some 
of which he presented to tli^ Rovid Aettdemy of Parisf and 
others he transoiitted to the Rojral Society of London. 

This silk was prepared in the fdk>wing manner :^-Twdv6 
or thirteen ounces cf the bags wel^beflfen With the bond, or 
by a stick, imtil they were entirely fireed-fitmi dttM. They 
were next washed m warm water, which was continually 



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144 80LK KANUFAOrmtX. PAST B* 

changed, until it no Icmger became clo«iM or.disoolered hf 
the bogs under process. After this they were steeped in » 
larffe quantity of water wherein soap, saltpetre, axid gum- 
an^ic had been dissolved. The whole was th^i set to boil 
over a ^ntle fire during three hours, after which thte bags 
were rinsed in clear warm water to discharge the soap. 
They were finally set out to dry, during some days pxevioos 
to the operation df carding, which was Sien perfi^rmed with 
cards dmering firom those usually employed with silk in be- 
ing much finer. By Uiete means silk <^ a peculiar ofili cc^ 
was oiiUdned, which was spun without difficulty. M. Bod 
affirmed Uiat the thread was both stronger and finer than 
common silk, and that therefore &brics similar to those made 
with the latter material might be manufactured fix>m this, 
there being no reason for doubting tliat it would stand anj 
trials of the kxxn, after having underg<uie those of the stock- 
ing frame. 

The only obstacle, therefore, which appeared to preveat 
the establishing of any considerable manumcture fix>m these 
spider bags was the difficulty of obtaining them in sufiiciaiit 
abundance. M. Bon fancied that this objection could Boon be 
overcome, and that the art (^domesticatmg and rearing spi- 
ders, as practised with silkwormsr was to be attained. Car- 
.ried away by the enthusiasm of one who, having made a dis- 
covery, pursues it with ard<Hr undismayed by difficulties, be 
met every objection W comparisons, wnich perhaps were not 
wholly and strictly rounded on fact Contrasted with the 
^ider, and to fiivor his arguments,' the silkworm in hJs hands 
made a very despicable figure. He affirmed that the feiaate 
i^ider produces 600 or 7^ eggs; while of the 100^ to whicji 
number he limited the silkworm, not more than one half 
were reared to jnroduce balls. That the spiders hatched 
apcmtaneoualy, without any core, in the months of August aad 
September ; that the oU spiders dying ^ooa after ,d^y have 
laid their eggs, the young ones live £i^ ten or twelve moatjbp 
witlH>ut food, and continue in their bapsi withoQt giPowiai^ 
imtil the -hot weather, by puttiqg their viscid Juices in mQ^oq, 
induces them to come forth, spin, and run abput in seard^ ^ 
food. 

M(m& Bon flattered himself >y thia partial comparison, that 
if a method could be found of l«eeding young ^^eis ia 
apartments, they would furnish a mu«h greater quantity ef 
ba^ than silkworms. Of about 700 or 800 young ai»to 
which he kept, hardly one died in a yew ; whereas, accocd- 
ing to this gentleman's esjtiioate, of 100 silkwinrmfl not My 



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CtZAP. Vtll. 8ILK PRODUCED BT SPID^BS. 145 

lived to form tiieir cocoons. His spider estaUishment was 
inanaffed in the foHowii^ manner : — ^havin^ ordered all the 
riiort-leffged spiders which could be collected by persons em- 
ployed for the purpose, to be brought to him, he inclo«ied 
them in paper coffins and pots ; these were covered with pap 
pers, which, as well as the coffins, were pricked over tfaieir 
surftice with pin-holes to admit air to the prisoners. The in- 
sects were duly fed with flies, and" after some time it was 
found on inspection that the greater pml of them had formed 
their bags. ^ This advocate for the rearing xif spiders contend- 
ed that spiders' hags affi)rded much more silk m proportion to 
their weight than those of the silkworm ; in proof of which 
he observed, that thirteen ounces yield nearly four ounces of 
pure sUk, two ounces of which were sufficient to make a pair 
of stockings; whereas stockings made of common silk were 
■aid by hin) to weigh seven or eight ounces. 

Some persons hSl imagined that the spider was venomous* 
and that this e<il quality extended to the silk which it pro* 
duced. Mens. Bon combMed this prejudice by the assertion, 
that he had several times been bitten by spiders, when no in- 
juTf had ensued ; and that the silk, so far firom heing per- 
Bicious, had been.ft^und efficacious in stanching and healing 
wounds, its natural gluten acting as a kind of balsam. De- 
termini upon extracting every posoble good from this his 
favorite pursuit, he subjected the spider silk to chemical 
analysis, and obt^ed from it a volatile si^t, preparing 
which in the same mftnner used ^ the^^ti^ Anglicana^ 
once so famous all over EiiropeVhe produced drops which, 
as he b^ieved, possessed- ipreater efficacy than eveil these : 
he called this preparation {f ontpelier drops, and recommond- 
ed its application m all lethai^c diseases. 

The Royal Academy of Paifis having , considered the sub- 
ject deserving of investigatkm) appointed M. Reaumur to in- 
quire into the merits of* this new dlken material In the 
course of his examination this n&turalist discovel^mailgr se- 
rious Ejections, tiie narration, of which will s&oW the mez- 
peAieocy of H. Bon*s projected establishments. Mens. 
Reaumur urged that the>natnral fierceness of spiders render- 
ed them wholly unfit to be hred and reared^ together. -On 
distributing 40W or 5000 into pjBlls^in companies of from 50 
to 100 or 200, it' was found that the larger spiders quickly 
killed and ate the smdler, so that in a short time the cells 
were depopulf^, scarcely more than- one or two being 
fbund in each cell. To this propensity fbr mutual desCruc- 
tion, M: Reaumur ascribes the scarcity of spiders in ccmpari- 
N 



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146 MIA MANtrFAcrtme. fakxii* 

son with the vaflt number of eggs which they produce. But 
if even it were possible to change, their warlike nature and 
bring these insects together in peaceful community, theite 
are other objections to deter from the attempt 

M. Reaumur affirmed, that the silk of the spider is inferior 
to that of the silkworm, both in lustre and strength, and that 
it produced proportionally less material arvailaWe to puarposes 
of manufecture. All thig was satisfactorily prove^ ; timnigh 
in his reasoning some little exaggeration was likewife em- 
ployed in oppositi(Mi to ^e coloring of M. Bon. The wead 
of the spider's web was foiind capable of sustaining a weight 
of only two grains without breaking ; aisd the filament of the 
bag, although much stronger than this, could only sustain 
thirty-six grains, while that of the silkworm will- support a 
weight of two drachms and a half ** Thus five" (four 1) 
"threads of the spider," said M. Keaumur, "must be Inrought 
together to equal one thread. of the silkworm." Now it is 
impossible that these should be applied so justly over one 
another as not to leave little vacant spaces, l^etween than, 
whence the light will not be reflected ^ and, consequently, 
a thread thus compounded cannot -equal in lustre a scdid 
thread. It is another great disadvantage of the spiders' silk, 
that it cannot be wound ofl!'the ball ID^e that of the silkworm, 
but must necessarily be carded ^-ai^ therefor$p its evenness, 
~ which .contributes so materially to . its lustre, is destroyed. 
That this eJSfect was in reality, produced, is further confirmed 
by the testimony of M. le Hire^ who^ when the stockings ci 
M. Bon were presented to the Royal Academy, immediately 
noticed their want oi[lu^re. ♦ j . 

Another objection ujiiged by M.- Reaumur against the rear- 
ing of spiders was the funaU-quantity as well as deficient 
quality of the silk they produce*.- In 'making a comparison in 
this respect between tl^^ and t^e silkworm,, extreme' cases 
were taken, that' the coliclusidn. might b^ rendered more 
striking. " The largest cocoons," ^d this naturalist, " weigh 
four and the smaller three grains each ; spider$' bags da n^t^ 
weigh above one grain eac£ ajid, after bemg. cleared of their 
dusl, have lost twq. thirds of this weight" He calculated, 
therefore, that the work of twelve spiders only equals thatdf 
one silkworm ; apd that a pouniiof silk would require for its 
production 27,648 insects. But as the bags are wholly the 
work of the fbmales, who spin theni as, a deposit for their 
eggs, it foUoysrs that 55,296. spiders must be reared to yield 
o^e pound of silk:; yet even this will be obtained from only 
the best ipidersr those large ones ordinarily seen in gardens, 



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CHAPr VIII. SILK PRODUCED BY. THE FIKNA. 14(7 

'&C yielding not more than a twelfth part the silk of the 
others. The work of 280 of these would, therefore, not 
yield more silk than tlie produce of one industrious silkworm, 
and 663,552 of them would furnish only one pound of silk! 
This latter calculation is however decidedly erroneous in its 
several^ steps, and appeare rather to be a flight of the imagi- 
nation l:han the result of sober induction^ The advantages 
of the culture (rf*silk from the silk\^orm, when compared with 
its production from spiders^ are so prodigious, and at ^ 
same time so evident, that to prove the futility of M. Bon's 
scheme needed not the aid of exaggeration- 
Human ingenuity has been somewhat more successfully 
exercised in seeking, many feet below tl^e sur&^e of the 
ocean, for slender filaments, the produce of an animal^in al- 
most a^egetativev state of existence. 

The p^innfi belongs, like tfiSe common edible muscle, to the 
<ffder <n the vermes testacear The an^imal is a limax, its 
shell is bivalve,' ^ragSe, and ftu*nished with a beard; the 
valves hinge without^ tooth. The pinna does not fiisten 
itself, to rocka in the same sittiation as the muscle, but sticks 
its sharp end into -the mud .or sand, while the rest of the shell 
remains, at liberty to open in the water. In cominon with 
the muscle, it ha^ the power of spinning a viscid matter 
from its body, in the nvEusner of the spider and caterpiUar. 
Although the pinna is vastly larger iMn the muscle, its shell 
being often found two -feet long, the threads which it pro- 
duces are much more delicate.and lender than those of the 
muscle, and scarcdy inferior in fineness and beauty to the 
single filament, of .the compB-ratively minute silkworm. 
Threads so delicately thin, as may readily be imagined, do 
not sinjfly possess much strength; but the little power of 
each is m^e up by the aggregate xjf the almost infinite nifm- 
ber which each fiA puts forth to secure itself in a fixe^ situa- 
tion, and- to^preseryd it ugaiiist the. rolling of! the waves. 
The threads are, howjever,^iinilar in their nature to those of 
the muscle, 4i^i^u^^ only in th^ir superior fineness and 
greater length. These fish htCve, therefore, b^n distinguish- 
ed by some -naturalists, Ihe one as tke' silkworm, the other as 
the caterpillar of the sea. 

It w^ alw^^ Well known that nniscl'es Itava the power of 
afiixing themselves either io rocks or to the sl^ells of one an- 
other, m a very firm manner ; yet their method of effecting 
this was not understood until Explained through the accurate 
observations of M. Reaumur. He was the iirst naturalist who 
•scertamed that if, i)y any accident,- the ouimali were torn 



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148 tnK uaxvwajctvwe. past n. 

from their hold, they poflseMed the power of substitutiiif 
other threads for those which had been broken or injured 
He found that if muscles, detached from each other, were 
placed in any kind of vessel and then plunged into the sea, 
they contrived in a very short time Uy fasten themselves 
both to the sides of the vessel and to one uiother's shells : in 
this process, the extremity of each thread seemed to perform 
the office of a hand in seizing upon the body to which it 
would attach itself 

The threaos issue firiMn the shell at that part where it 
naturally opens, and, in affixing themselves to any substance, 
fbtm numerous minute caUes,,by aid of which the fish 
steadies itself in the water. Each animal is furnished with 
an orjfan, which it is difficult to designate by any name, 
since it performs the office of so many members, and is the 
cmly indicattMr of the existence of vittd powers in the c^rea- 
ture. It is by turns a tongue, an arm, and sometimes a leg. 
Its shape resemUes that of a tongue^ and. it is, therefc»re, 
most fi*equently called by that name. Whenever the fish 
reanires to change ks place, tlufi member serves to dx^ its 
body forward, together with its cumbrous habitation : in per- 
fioming its journey, the extremi^ of this orffan, which may 
then be called a leg, is fixed to some solid body, and being 
then contracted in its length, the whc^ fish is necessarily 
drawn towards the ^pot wheiie it has fixed itself; and bva 
repetition of these movements, the animal arrives at its des- 
tinatioa. It is not oftea that the organ is put to this use, as 
&e pinna is but little addicted to locomotion : some nato- 
ndistB indeed affirm that it is always stationary. The use to 
which the tongue is most frequently applied is that of ipin- 
ning the threads. Although tins liody is fiat, and similar in 
form to a tongue through the greater part of its length, it 
becomes cylindrical about the lM»e pr root, where it is much 
■maller-than in any other part: at this lower ^nd are several 
ligatures of a muscular nature, which hold the tongue firmly 
fixed against the middleoflhe shell; four of' these cords are 
very ajiparent, and serve to,move,tiie tongue in any direction 
accordulg to the wants of the fish: Through the entire 
length of this member there runs a slit, which, pierces very 
deeply into its substance, do as almost to divide it into two 
longitudinal sections ; this slit performs the office of a canal 
for the Hqnor of which the threads are formed, and serves to 
mould them into their poper form : this canal a^^ears exter- 
nally like a small crack, bemff ahnost covered by the fledi 
fWwi either mde, but intenialfy it is much wider, and is 8m> 



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CRAP. VIU. SILK PRODUCED BY THB PIXNA. 149 

rounded by circular fibres. The channel thus formed ex- 
tends regularly from the tip to the base of the tongue, 
where it partakes of the form of the member and becomes 
cylindric, forming there a close tube or pipe in which the 
canal terminates. The viscid substance is moulded in this 
tube into tiie form of a cord, similar to the threads produced, 
from it, but much thicker, and from this cord all the minute 
fibres issue and disperse. The internal surfitce of the tube 
in which the large cord is formed is furnished with glands 
for the secretion of the .peculiar liquor employed in its pro- 
duction, and which liquor is always in great abundance in 
this animal as w«ll as in muscles. 

Reaumur observed, that although the twrkmanship, when 
completed, of the land -and sea animals, is the ^lame, the man- 
ner of its production ia very different. Spiders^ caterpillars, 
and the like, forra threads of any required len^, by making 
the viscous liqqor of which the filament is formed pass 
through fine perforations . in the organ appointed for thUi 
spimimg. But the^ way in which muscles fcnm their thread 
is very different; as the fonnerresemWes the work of the 
wire-drawer^ so does the latter that of the founder who casts 
metals in a mould. The oanal of the organ destined for the 
muscle's spinning is the mould in which Its thread is cast, 
and gives to it its determinate length.* . 

Reaumur learned th& manner of the muscle performing 
the operation of spinning by actually 7>lacing some of these 
fish under his constant inspection. He kept them, in his 
apartment in a vessel' filled with sea , water, and distinctly 
caw them open their sh^ljs and put forth the tongue. They 
extended and- cc^itracted this organ several times, obtruding 
it in every direction, ad if seekuag ^e fittest ^p\ace whereon 
to fix their threads. After these^ trials ftad been oflen re- 
peated, tiie tongue. of one. was observed to remain for some 
time^n the spot chosen, and being then drawn back with- 
gireat quickness, a thread was very easily discerned, fitstened 
to th^ place: this operation was repeated, until all the 
threads were in sufficient ^number,- one fibre bemg produced 
at each movement of the tongue. , • , 

The dd threads, were fouioLto differ materially firom those 
newly i^un, the latter being whiter, more gbssy, and more 
transparenjb than, the former, and it was thence discovered 
that it was not the office of the toi^gue to tSransfer the dd 
direads one by one to the new epots where they were fixed, 

Acad. Par. mi. 
N2 



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IIK) SILK MANVTACrVBB. PABT It. 

which course M. Reaumur had thought was pursued. The 
old threads once severed from the spot to whkh they had 
heen originally fixed were seen to be useless, and that every 
fibre employed by the ^^ to secure itoelf in4i new poeition 
was produced at Vie time it was required ; and, in short, that 
mture had endowed some fish, as well as many land* insects, 
with Uie power of spinning^threads, as their natural wante 
and instiniits demanded. This &ct was-estahli^ed incontro- 
vertibly by cutting away^ as close to the body as they could 
be safely separated, the old threads, which were alwajrs re- 
placed by otiiers m as short a space of time as was employed 
by other muscles not so deprived in fixing: themselves. 

** The pilma and its cancer friend^* have on more than one 
occasion been made subjects ft»r poetry. There is doufa^ea 
some foundation-for the &ct of tne mutual alliance between 
these nquatic -friends 'which has been thus celebrated ; jet 
some slight odorins may have been borrowed from the re- 
gbns of fimcy to adorn the verse, and «ven the prose history 
-of their attacnment may be exposed to the same objection. 

These fish are fi>und on the coasts ef Provence and Italy, 
and in the Indian ocean. The largest and most remaricalMe 
wpeciea inhabits the Mediterranean sea. 

The scutde-fish,'" a native of the same seaS as the {mma, 
is its deadly foe, and would quickly destroy it, if it were not 
for its fiuthfiil ully. In common with all the same species, 
the pinna is without the organs of sight, and could not, there- 
to, upasiisted, be aware of the vicinity of its 'dangerous 
enemy. A small aaiipal of the crab kind, itself Restitute of 
a covering, but extremely quick-sighted, takes refuge in the 
flihell of 'we pinna, whose strong ealcareous valves^ afford a 
sheltQr to her truest, wlule he maked a return for this protec- 
tion by goinff »>rth in se^reh of iprey, , At these times the 
pinna opens ner valves to afS^rd bun egress and ingress : if 
the watchful scuttle-fish ncm approach, the crab returns im- 
mediately with notice of the danger to her hostws, who, 
timely warned, -shuts her door and keeps out the enemy. 
When the crab has, unmolested, sacce)3ded in loadmg itself 
with provisions, it gives notice b^ a gentle noise at the open- 
ing of the shelU.and when admitted j . the two friepds feast 
t(^ether on the fruit of its mdustry. It would appear an ar- 
duous, nay, almost an impossiUe task, for- the defenceless and 
diminutive crab, not merely to elude i^ enemies and return 
— - .'■-,.■•.•- > 

* Tfafo jipeeiet ft the Octopodim, wkb^ithf anpi eonnvcted at'tbtir bot 
torai by ft mMnbrftMt it it tbe Polypu» of Pliny. 



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CHAP. Vm. BILK FSODUCBD BT THE PINNA. 151 

homey but likewise to^tain a supply of provender sufficient 
to satisfy the wants of its larger companion. The following 
difl^rent account of the nature of this alliance is much more 
m agreement with probability: — 

Whenever Ae pmna ventures to open its shell, it is imme- 
diately exposed to the attacks oi various of the smaller kinds 
of fish, which, Unding' no resistance to their first assaults, ac- 
quire boldness and venture in. The vigilant guard, by a gen- 
Ue bite, gives notice of this, to his companion, who, upon thi^ 
hint, closes her shell, and having thus shut them in makes a 
prey of those who had come to prey upon her : ivhen^ thus 
supplied with fbod, she never fails to shar^ her booty with so 
usefiil an ally. , - ^ 

We are told that the sagacious observer Dr, Hasselquist, 
in his voyage about the mSdle of the last centurv to Pales- 
tine, whidh he undertook for objects oonnected with the study 
of naturd^ history, beheld this curious phenomenon, which, 
though well known to the ancients, had escaped the atten- 
tion of the modems. "' . 

It is related by Ari^otle* that the pinna keeps a guard to 
watch finr her, which grows to her mouth, and serves as her 
caterer : this he calls pinnof^ylax, and describes as a little 
fish with claws like a ciab. Pliny Gbserves,t that the 
smallest species of crab is called the pinn^>tores, and being 
ftom iUt diminutive size liable to injury, has the prudence to 
conceal itself in the shells of oysters. In another ^lace he 
describes the pinna as of the genus of sheD-fisl% with the 
farther particulars that it is found in nniddy waters, always 
erect, aiul never without a companion, called hy some pinno* 
tores, by others pinnophylax ; this being sometimes a small 
squill, sometimes a crab, whush remains with- the pinna for 
the sake of fixxL ' "* - . 

The descripti<m of the pinna by the Gre^k poet Opinaous, 
who flouri^ed in the second century, has been thus given ia 
Eiig^ish verse : — . 

".The pinna and the crtib to|[ether dwell,* • ■ 
For mutual soecor in one connnon sheli ; . 
They- both tojgain a livelihood combine* 

•That takes the pr^y* when this has given thq. sign \ 
From hence^lhis tfrab, above bis fellows fluned, 
By ancient Greeks was Piniiotores named." 

It is said that the pinna fastens itself so strongly to the 
rocks, tlwit the men who are emptoyed in fishii^ it are 
obliged to use consideFable force to break the tuft of threads 

♦ Hist. lib. T. c. 15. > t Uh. ix. «1 . 68. 



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153 SILK MAmiFACTlTftS. PAHT H. 

by which it h secured fifteen, Iwaity, and Bometimes thirty 
feet below the surface of the sea. 

The fishermen at Toulon use an instrument caHed a cramp 
for this curious pursuit This is a kind of iron fork, whose 
prongs are each about eight feet in length and .six inches 
apart, and placed at right angles to the handle, the length of 
which is regulated by the depth of water. The [nnne are 
Beized, separated flrom the rock, and raised to the surface by 
means of this> instrument 

The threads of the pinna have from very ancient times 
been employed in the manufacture of certam fabrics. This 
material was well knoi^n- to the ancients, as some suppose, 
under the name of byssus,* and was wrought in very early 
times into gloves and other articles of dress mid ornament 
It appears £at robes were sometimes made of this produce, 
since we learn fromJProeoiMus that a robe composed' of byssus 
of the pinna was pieeented to the satraps of Armenia by the 
Roman emperor.f ' 

A .writer of the year 1783 evidently refers to- the pimiie 
marinae, when he says, ** The «ncienta had a manu&cture of 
silk, and which, fdbout forty years ago> was revived at Tarento 
and Regie in the kingdom of Naples. It consists of a strong 
brown silk, belonging. to some sort of shell, of which they 
make caps, gloves, stockings, waistcoats, &c., warmer than 
the woollen stufi^ and brighter tiian common silk. I have 
seen such Icmd of silk in ^ells myself; I think it was of the 
pecten kind, but. cannot be sure."| 

Severi^' beautiful manufactures are wrought with these 
threads at Palermo. They are in many places the chief ob- 
ject, d* the fishery, and the silk is- found 4» be excellent 
The proiduce of- a considerable number of pinnse isr required 
to make .only one pair of stockings. The delicacy .of this 
singular thread is such that a pair of sfpckings -made of it 
can be easily cimtained in a snuffbox of ordinary size. 
Sorae>8tockings of this material were presented, ^in the year 
1754, to pope Benedict XIV. ; and, notwithstanding their ex- 
treme fineness, were found, to protect the le^s alike from 
cold and heat . Stockings' and gloves of this p^uction, 
however thin, ^re too warm for common wear, but are es- 
teemed usefiil in gouty and i^eumatic cases. This great 
warmth of the bysSus, like the siisfilar quality in ailk, r^idts 

♦ Note D D; ' . t ProcopiuB de E4if. lib* iii. c i. . 

1 The Young C«itt)emaii and Lady'i Pfailosopt^, Py 3$i\jainin Altrtii^ 
vol iu. p. 1*^. 



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CHAr« VIU, BILK PRODUCED BY THE PINNA. 153 

probably from both being imperfect conductors of heat as 
well as of electricity. 

It is not probable that this inaterial will ever be obtained 
in much abundance, or that it will cease to be a rarity, ex- 
cept in the places of its production. It is never seen in Eng- 
land save in the cabinets of the curious. 

The appearance and general characteristics of the produce 
of the pinna, the spider, and the silkworm, are so similar, as 
to have acquired &r ^em one geperic name. If all their 
constituent parts be alike, it forms^another amon^ the numer- 
oiiis subjects for Surprise and .admiration, excited by contem- 
plating the wonderful works of nature, that the same silky 
principle can be alike elaborated:£x)m the fish, the fly, and the 
mulberry leaf.* ; 

♦Note BE. 



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154 SILK MANVFAGTURB. PART Uh 

PART m. 

ON THE MANUPACTUBE OF SILK, 

GHAP. L 

REELING. 

Arrangement of FJUture.—Separation of different Kinds of Cocoons.— De- 
scrjj^ioh of Reel.— Manner of Reelhig.— Construction and Proportioiu 
Of Reel regulated by Law in Piedmont.— Precautions.— Size of Threads. 
— Regnlation of Temperature.— Waste ^Ik.— Quantity reeled in a given 
lime.— Mode ef aseertafning Fineness of Thread.— Spun Silk. — FleureL 
—French inferior to Italians^ in the Art of Reelinff. — Rieguiatidps and 
Restrictions in Piedmont.— Their Oi^essiveness and In^wUcy. 

In countri^ where silk is product, the winding of co- 
coons is ffeneraliy pursued as a business distinct from that of 
rearing tne worms ; and the silken balls become an article 
of trade so soon as th^ insect within lias been deprived of vi- 
tality 1^ some one of the means already described. Some- 
times, indeed, this process also is hsft to be performed by the 
pmrcluiser. 

The building designed for a filature should be loft^ ; open 
on one side imd accessible to the rays of the sun, wlule k is 
walled on the otiier side as a dielter from cold winds. A free 
passage diould be a£S)rded- to the steam arising frcmi the 
boilers, which vessels should be disposed in rows on dther 
side of jhe build big; by which igrrangement'the superintend- 
ant can readily't)verIook 4iie whole number. 

^fore the cocoons can be reeled, it is necessary to separ 
rate liiem from their outward 'floss. This is very expedi- 
tiously done by opening the floss at one end, and protruding 
the cocoon, or hard, compact ball, Which ife to b^ reeled. 

Although previously to selling his cocoons the vender is by 
law obliged to separate^the soufBons and perforated cocoods 
from the others, there wBl yet always remain some of these, 
which, added to the dupions and choquettes, amount to^atKwt 
ten per. cent of the whole number. It is of great conse- 
quence that the CQCbons should at this tinie be carefally 
<;las^d, according tp their qualities, as each -separate class 
requires a difierent treatment in reeling, both as regards the 
heat applied dnd the rapidity of windihff. 

Good cocoon^ white aa well as yellow, are the easiest 
wound. Cocalons call for the greatest car6 and skill : they 
require to be placed in cooler water than the others, and 
then, in the -hands of An eicpert winder, as good silk may be 



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CHAP. U 



REELING. 



155 



produced from them as from the rest Experienced reelers 
must likewise be employed for dupions and choquettes, which 
both require the application of hotter water tiian good co- 
coons. 

In Piedmont, where silk of the best quality is produced, 
the process of reeling- has long been conducted by the em- 
ployment of a machine similar- to the tlra.wii^g here given. 

Fig,7. - ^' 




A is a copper boiler about 18 inches long, and six Inches 
fleep, set in brickwork, so as to admit of a charcpal fire being 
made beneath it : if. other fuel be used, a small flue or chim- 
ney must be added to carry away the smoke. B Ris a stout 
wooden frame wherteon the several working parts of the reel 
are supported. D represents the feel on which the silk is to 
be wound; a is the layer.which diiTects. the position of thd 
threads in their passage to the reel ; 6 c is the wheel-work 
which gives motion to this layer. The reel D is merely a 
wooden spindle, turned by a crank handle at one end, and 
having four arms mortised at each end within the frame. 
These arms support the four batten^ or rails on which the 
silk is woiind. The rails, which are parallel to the axis, are 
placed^ at such a disttmcie from it, that they may produce a 
skein of proper size by the winding oCtlie, fiilk upon them. 
They are usuallv so disposed as. to pass through the space of 
one yard at each revolution.^. One of each of the two. sets 
of arms is made with hinges to fold in the middla of its 
length, in order that the rail which these two arms support 
may fidl in or aqjiproach tlie centre as occasion may require : 
this, by dimirfishing the^izeof the reel, allows the skeins of. 
silk to be readily slipped off when the winding is completed. 

At the end Opposite tb the handle of the wooden spindle, 
and withm the frame B, there is placed a wheel with twen^ty- 



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156 WLK MANUFACTURE. PART Itt. 

two teeth, giving motion to another wheel e, which has about 
double that number of te^, and is fixed on the end of the 
inclined axis ch; this, at the oj^Msite end, has a wheel b ei 
twenty-two teeth, which gives motion to a horizontal cog- 
wheel of thirty-five teetL This last wheel turns upon a 
fixed pivot in the fivme, and has, near to its, periphery or 
outer rim, a pin> to which the wooden rail or layer ir is at- 
tached. The opposite end of this rail plays in'a mortise or 
opening made in the frame R This layer is ffirnished at 
equal distances from the frame with two wire loop or eyes, 
through which the silk threads are. passed in being wound. 
JPiTow, if motion be given to the horizontal cog-wheel by 
means of tbe other wheels and inclined axis, when the han- 
dle of , the reel is turned, it is evident that this will cause the 
layer likewise to move to and fro, dijrecting the threads 
which pass through its wire eyes alternately to the right and 
left, through a ropge e^ual to the diameter of the horizontal 
cog-wheel to which it is attached. 

The iron bar c, which is fixed over the centre of the boiler, 
is pierced with two holes, through which the threads are led 
in their passage' from tjie boiler to the layer. 

If the thread of ^acU cocoon were reeled separately, it 
would, fiwm its extrem^ teauity, be wholly unfit lor the pur- 
pose of manufacture : 4Beveral threads are therefore reeled 
together. The cqcoons Which are to be wound being put 
into the hot water contained in the .boiler A, the gummy 
matter which they posse&s is softened* sp.that the unwinding 
of their threads is facilitated, and at the same time the fibree^ 
which are brought together in the reeling, adhere^ and fi>rm 
aae strong and smooth thread*- < 

In the process of reeling, as. oflen as the tiiread of any 
single cocoon brea,ks, or comes to an end, its place is supjdied 
by another ; so that the same number is continually kept up^ 
and a thread of the same substance ind^ be continued to any 
length.* The single filam^its which are thus from time to 
time added are not joined by tying, but are jsimplj laM on 
the conpound thread to whicbthey will adhere by their gum, 
and the ends being extremely -fine do not occasion any per- 
ceptible, unevenness in the spot ^ereoA they are laid. 

It is of considerfJ)]e . importance that' "the water vtrherein 
the cocoona are put shoidd be either rain water, or that 
which is obtained from ponds or slow running streams. That 
denominated hard water, which is suj^lied by springs and 
fifom wells, usually contains a large proportion of earthy 



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J 



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€QA^« :• ftXBLiiro. 157 

fallB, and will not sufficientijr soften the gum, so that the 
threads would be liable to continual fracture. 

Fire being applied in the furnace, the water in tiie boiler 
A is brought nearly to the point of boiling. The exact de- 
grees of heat to which the water should l^ raised do not ap- 
pear to be particularly defmed, but are ascertained only by 
the eflects produced, and are regulated according to the ex- 
perience of the reeler. If the silk comes off in knobs ar 
lumps, which are not fully extended, it shows that the water 
is too hot: it must be immediately cooled, and the fire abated. .. 
J£f on the contrary, the silk is with di&culty drawn from the 
cocoons, which is known by their often bounding from the 
boiler, the water is then evidently not hot enough suffieieiatly 
to soften the gum, and the fire must be increased. 

Two or three handsful of cocoons are thrown into the 
boiler, wherein they are submerged during some minutes to 
eoRen their viscidity. The reeler then takes her seat at the 
side, and gently presses the cocoons with a brush of about 
«ix inches long, made of the finest twigs, or tops of heath 
bound together, and cut off evenly at SieW ends. By this 
operation the loose tiireads of the balls adhere to the bruish, 
and are drawn out b;^ its means, when the reeler disengages 
them, and draws their ends through her fingers to clear them 
firom any loose flossy silk. These preliminaj^ steps are 
called the battue. The ends of four or more of the threads 
thus cleared — their number of course regulating the fineness 
of the silk intended to be wound— ^re passed durough eadi 
of the holes in the iron bar c. After this, two of these com* 
pound threads, consisting of four or more threads each, are 
twisted twaity or more times round each othei:, in otder that 
the filaments may better unite together by these mutual 
ctoeanga, and likewise that the whole may assume a cylin- 
drical form, as without this twisting the silk would be wound 
fiat on the reel.; After being thus passted through the iron . 
baj e and twisted, the threads are led tlurough the wire eyes 
^ fbe layer, and bein^ th&ace conducted^ to the reel are 
made fiat to its raila A boy or ^rl is now employed to tura^ 
the handle of the reel : this must be*^ performed with a tegU' 
Ur even motkm, and somewhat slowly, until it is ascertamed 
that all the cocoons yield their threads fireely. As soon as 
this is ascertained to be going forward sati^&ctorily, a much 
qoicker moti(»i is given to the reel. This speed is, however, 
regolated by the reeler according to certain indications. If 
the cocoonis should bound firom the water the motion must be 
slackened, and if knobs or lumps appear, which show that the 



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158 8ILK MANUFACTURE. PABT HI. 

silk is yielded by the cocoon more rapidly than taken- up by 
the reel, its rotations must be accelerated. It is the province 
of the reeler to observe these signs, and to regulate accord- 
ingly the heat of the water and the celerity of the winding* 

The slow traversing motion of the layer prevents the 
threads from lying over each other on the reel, until they 
have made so many revolutions through the air as to dry the 
gum of the silk su^ciently to prevent the adhering of the 
Uireads together. The sizes of the wheels and the numbers 
of tiieir teeth are so regulated, that after the reel is covered 
for about the breadth of three inches by the gradual progres- 
sion of the layer, half a revolution of the horizontal cog-wheel 
will have been made, and thereafter th^ layer will necessa- 
rily return and dkect a second course of threads over those 
first laid ; and so on, until the entire length of silk proper t9 
fonn the skein has been wound.. 

The mackine winda two skeins at the same tune, which it 
is evident cannot hj this arrangement in any way interfere 
with each other. 

It is considered essential to the production of good silk, 
that the thread shiadl have lost, part of its heat and adhesive- 
ness before it touches the bar of the reel. For this' reason, 
the Piedmontese-reelers are obliged by law to allow a dis- 
tance of 38 French inches between tlie guides a and the cen- 
tre of the reel. The motion of the layer is also regulated, 
and must be moved as here shown by a cog-wlieel, instead 
of by an endless strap, which is sometimes used in other of 
the Italian states, and which if suffered to grow slack will 
slip without moving the layer; the threads will consequently 
npt lie distinctly and regulariy, and the skein will be gum- 
m^ together ; whereas the regularity of the coff- wheels can- 
not be interrupted. When the skeins are fini^ed, the reel 
is removed from its frame, and after, being set to dry thxsy 
are taken off by folding the arms provided with hinges. 
Each skein is at this time generally tied round in two phtCes 
with some of the refiise silk, and it should also be sligbtly 
gmnmed in one part, but not so much as to occasion its a^i&> 
ting together strongly ; a sufficient quantity causes the skein 
to preserve Its regiSarity ; too much gum would occasion the 
thread to break in the throwing mill. The silk is then doo^ 
bled into a hank, and is considered ready for usfe or sale. 

Although the process of reeling is apparently very simple, 
yet some attention and skill are required for the producti(» 
of an even thread. The reeler must not wait until the thread 
of a coeoon is entirely exhausted before she puts on another^ 



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CHAP. r. REELING. 159 

because as they approach tlieir termination the filament* be- 
come much finer. It is necessary to attend to this circum- 
Btance, as well as to .the breaking of the threads, that the 
requisite degree of substance -may be preserved- throughout 
This graduaEy decreasing thickness'of the fibres is in such a 
prc^rtion, that where half- wound cocoons, previously broken, 
are again added, two such are considered equal to one that 
has not been used. Thus the union of three new and two 
half- wound threadi^ are equal tosilk of four cocoons. 

The balls must not be wound off to the last, because when 
tiiey approach their termination, the husk of the worm, or 
bairre, is carried forward with the thread and makes the silk 
fiMil. When the silk is nearly wound off, the chrysalis will 
drop through, and the ball being then too light to continue in 
the boiler, will rise to the iron bar e, and if not immedktely 
removed would, by stopping the passage, occasion .the break- 
ing of the whole thread. 

In giving a proper degree of attention to all these particu- 
lars, the reeler will fim unceadng occupa^on. She must, 
besides, be always prepared with new ends 0f cpcoons to re- 
place those which break or come to an end $ and from time to 
time it is necessary to throw an additionkd supply of cocoons 
into the boiler for this object Even this little' pomt requires 
to be done with judgment ; for if any of the cocoons should 
remain too long in hot water, their gum would be dissolved, 
and the silk would come from them unequally. The balls 
when in the boiler must be frequently pressed under the wa- 
ter, that, their whole surfaces may be equally wetted; if this 
is not attended to, the principal part of each ball would, from 
its buoyancy, remain dry> and stubborn, while the porticm im- 
mersed would be too much softened. 

Silk may be wound of any size, from one cocoon to one 
hundred : but it is difficult to unitF more than thirty in one 
thread. The art consists-in winding an even thread ; for as 
the filament of each ball is not oif one uniform tenuity thr9ugh- 
out, the skill of th^ reeler is required so to arrange arid bring 
the threads together, that the same thickness may be contin- 
uously j)reserved throughout the skein. This perfect equality 
is so difficult of attainment, that the degree of substance in 
the silk is never exactly defined ; aild, with the exception of 
a thread of two cocoons, whfch is so cdled, silks are not dis- 
tinguished as those produced from three, four, or five fibres, 
but are said to be of three to four, four to five, or five to six 
cocoons, Coarser skeins are not even so nicely defined j but 



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160 SILK MANYJFACTVnB. PAitt lH. 

are called from twelve ta fifteen, &om fifteen to twenty co- 
coons, and so on. 

The reeler must always during the operation of winding 
have at her side a bowl of cold water, wherewitii she may 
from time to thne, as -occasion arises, abate the teat of tke 
Water in the boiler,- It is iiot x>f more consequence ta the 
facility ojf reeling, than it is to the quality of the silk poduced, 
that the water should be of proper temperature. If tda hot, 
the thread proves what is technically called (feiul, and is with* 
out firmness ; and should there have been a deficiency of 
heat, the ends will not be well joined, and the silk will be 
har^. A thread cannot without difficulty be wound when 
only cold water is employed ; and the adhesion of the fibres 
of which it is composed is so slight, that the thread breaks bjr 
the application of the smallest mrce, and the l^ist moisture 
will (separate its filaments ; those of silk wound from hot wt^ 
ter cannot be separated except by the same agency. 

When the reeling of the skems is finished, the boiler A 
must be. cleaned ; all the chrysalides which have been abifh 
ped of tiieir covering mu3t be removed, together whh sacb 
.cocoons as still reftain a portion of silk. These latte^r mQ0t be 
thrown into a basket, into which the loose silk which is dk- 
engaged in making the h^ttue is likewise placed ; thcpi aie 
considered as waste silk, and must be carded and spoil m 
order to form threads. The water in the boiler must be 
changed four thnes a day when dupions and choquettes aie 
wound. If only good cocoons are reeled, twice is considered 
oftea enough for its renewal. The chrysalides and hu^ 
ccntained in the cocoons very speedily make the water foul ; 
it is therefore that these frequent changes are needed ; for if 
the water employed be not tolerably clear, it will be in vam 
to look fOT the production of finr glossy silk. 

The weight of silk that^can be reeled in any given time is 
governed by the degree of quickness wherewith the reeler 
can add firesh ends for broken or expended cocoons. It makes 
little diflTerence whether twenty cocoons are united to form 
one thread, or the same number be employed to produce four 
skeins, provided both descriptions are wound with an equal 
regard to evenness and g'ood quality. There is a degree of 
dexterity required in adding the ends, which can only be ac- 
quired by practice ; and very fewreelers are sufiiciently ex- 
pert to give the necessary attention to three skeins at the 
same moment . . 

A w(»nan experienced in the business, of reeling, with the 
assistance of a girl totaim the wheel and attend to the BiBf 



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CHAP- I* REELINO. 161 

can with ease wind off one pound of silk, consisting of four 
to five cocoons, of the most perfect quality, in one day. Two 
skeins are wound upon her reel at the same time; when 
these are completed, they are set in the shade to dry, without 
tein^ removed from the reel, which, for this purpose, can be 
readily disengaged from the frame.^ These two skeins w;ill 
occupy the moming*s labor. In the afternoon a fresh reel is 
employed, and two other skeins are wound, which .again are 
set apart until the morning, that they may dry bSbre re- 
moval from the wheel. Where silk of more ordinary quality 
is wound, one person can as easily attend to the reehng qf 
four, six, or even more skeins, placed at the same time on a 
machine of larger dimensions. A coarse, foul, and ordinary 
silk will be the produce, six or eight pounds of which may be 
obtained by one day's labor of a woman and her young at- 
tendant. . 

When skeins of silk thus completed become articles of 
sale, the fineness of their thread is determined hy means less 
liable to deceive than the unassisted eye of man. A reel so 
constructed, as that the circumference of the skein when 
wound upon it shall be of a certain known admeasurement, is 
made to perform a given number of revolutions, usually 400, 
when the skein is removed and accurately weighed. The 
comparative weights of silk, whereby their fineness is de- 
noted, are estimated in weights called denier?, twenty of 
which are equal to sixteen and a half grains. 

It^is evident that the smaller the tendency of the threads 
to break, the greater is the proportion of work that can be ac- 
complished by the reeler ; and this forms one among the 
many reasons for choosing sound and good cocoons. 

The breaking of the single filaments arises principally 
from using ill-fortoed Cocoons, and from the improper i^e^- 
lation of 3ie heat o/ the. water. The silk of dupions is so in- 
terlaced that it perpetually breaks, rendering th^e the most 
troublesome and unprofitable of any quality for winding. 

The whole thread is sometimes broken m its passafife from 
the cococois to the reel, .through the stopping of the loops in 
the layer by knobs as before &scribed, or by the reel being 
turned with a-jerking motion. Even in this case, however, 
the aUk does not require to be rejoined by a knot, but is suf* 
ficiently attached if the parts, on being brought together, are 
aliffhtly twisted. 

Evenness of thread, and the absence of knobs or knots, 
which among manufacturers giye to silk the name of bemg 
fiwl, are the leading points which determine its value. The 
02 



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lOd IILK HANUFACTVRE. PABT HI. 

best mode fi>r judging whether silk be dean is to open the 
skein, and look down upon it in the same direction "mth the 
light By this examination any foulness which exists will be 
r^ily perceived, and a very little practice will enable a per- 
son, by a mere ccmp d^ceil, to jiklge with accuracy upon the 
essential qualities of the silk; 
Royal cocoons, which are those which have be^i pierced 

S' the breeding moths, are never reeled, but are spun wSh 
e souffloBS and perforated cocoons. These are all boiled in 
water, the soufBons for half an hour; perforated cocoons 
somewhat longer ; and royal cocoons for a foil hour. The 
latter kind are opened while yet damp ; the other two de* 
scriptions are first dried and then beaten to disengage them 
from their chrysalides, which are reduced to a powder. The 
cocoons thus [prepared are placed in a distafi^^ and qpened 
by taking each end and drawing out the fibres at arm's 
length.' TTie produce of these balls, when worked, is called 
fleuret If after boiling and beating the cocoons are carded, 
the fleuret will be more beautifiil and of a brighter color, 
but of a higher price, owing to the waste which attends this 
operation. It is considered a very tolerable day's work for a 
gtx)d spinner to complete one ounce of fleuret. Of this de- 
scription of silk, rojrar cocoons produce the best, next the 
perforated cocoons, and, lastly, the soufflons. A veiy ii^erior 
kind of silk is also produced by spinning the coarse floss and 
the refuse of the reeling. 

Although those cococms from Which the moths have been 
allowiBd.to escape ^are always consigned to the hands of the 
spinner instead of the reeler, it would appear firom tlie testi- 
mony of one who took much trouble to ascertain the point, 
that great part, at feast, of these, might be advantageously 
wound. ** 1 have," says the reverend JJIr. Swayne, •* taken 
the pains to unravel tiie cocoons after the insects had Idt 
them, and found I that the thread was not discontinued in 
any one instance, unless when I broke it myself ft was 
olten So much entangled that I could not proceed, yet some- 
times I have Wbund off flearly the whole cocoon. If put in 
water, the silk will be immediately entangled." One year 
this gentleman bred One hundred worms, and^ allowed tiiem 
all to pierce their cocoons : he was able to wind off &tt^ of 
'these, whTch weighed exactly one hundred grains, and the 
Waste silk for spinning which remained msf the filing 
weighed thirty-three grains. 

^ Informaticm obtamS firom an accurate and veiy intelligent 
observer, leads to tiie conclusion that the estaldishments for 



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CHAP. !• SXSLIN6. 16S 

reeling silk in France are much inferior in their trrange- 
ments to those of Italy. The pdncipal cause aangfned for 
^us inferiority, is the want of some general regulations, 
which in some measure would control the mode df conduct- 
ing the process. It is said that the Piedmontese silk owes 
the repuiaticm which it has so lon^ enjoyed, and which it 
continues to sustain, to regulations unposed hy the govern* 
ment at an early period after the introduction of silk cultiva- 
tion into that country, and which are still very strictly en* 
forced. The tendency of these regulations is not cMily to <*- 
tain fi^ood silk, hut to procure also regularity in sizci and nni^ 
fbnmty in the wcnrking of the machines employed fi>r reeling. . 
Tlie proprietor of a silk filature in Piedmont, before he conn 
mences the business of reeling, is obliged to announce to a 
local board of commissioners the number of boilers he intends 
to use, and the thickness and weight of sUk which he means 
to produce in the seasoL A smidler quantity Uian five hun- 
dred pounds' weight of silk is not aHowed to be reeled in a 
single filature. The various establishments are viaitedt 
durmg the senson of reeling, by the members of the coinmifl>* 
sion; and should anv person .be (bund operating upon a 
greater or lesser number of cocoons than he has previously 
terorted, or otherwise in any way infiringing the regulations, 
a fine is imposed. Nothing of this kind exists in France; 
and in consequence there is &und an infinite variety in the 
size of the reel and the thickness of the silk. Some wind 
ofiT their cocoons with cdd water, others with hot, and others 
again use steam ftr softening the t^iacity of the balls. 
Most cultivatc»« of silk in France reel the oocqons they 
have produced, even though these riioold not weigfa more 
than twenty pounds^ In va&nj places the reelera are piaid 
according to the weight of sdk wound, and viritbout re^- 
ence to its quidity ; a iystem which naturally tends to care- 
lessness and improper haste, as w^ as to t&e production of 
only the coarser qiudities o^ the material. In this case, the 
number of fibres continually being wound renders it impossH 
ble toeupply deficiencies with sufficient quicknes* and regu- 
]ari|^ ; and, as a necessary consequence of this defiK^ve 
process, the silk is wastefiil and ufregular, demandinff inall 
the after-stages of its manufiicture much additknm time, 
labor, and expense. 

There are. exceptions to this fiiultjr manner of conducting 
the process of reehng in France, and particularly in the de* 
partment of the Oard ; the produce of some ftlattires in that 
llistrict being conndered nearly equal to the best of Itily. 



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IM SILK MANUFACTURE. PAKT m* 

The silks produced in Ardechet and on the left bank of the 
Rhone, are coarser, and less careRilly reeled. As an excep- 
tion, however, there is produced a superior descripti(»i df 
white silk in the upper part of the department of Ardeche, 
which is purchased by the lace manufacturers of Normandy, 
and which sells for more Uian 50f. per pound : a few years 
back it commanded as hi^b a^ price as 16Q/^ per pound. 

In a letter published m the Pricurseur of Lyons on the 
5th of February, 1830, .and which is understood to express 
the opinion of the best informed merchants and manufac- 
turers of that city on the quality of French grown silk, 
there is much valuable information to be found on the subject 
of the silk trade. It is stated in this letter, that, with the 
exception of the produce of some filatures in the depart- 
ment of the Gard, and of one or two others, destined to be 
converted into organzine by the proprietors themselves, 
' and whose interest consequently leads them to bestow the 
requisite degree of care, none of the silk of France possesses 
the desirable regularity c^ fibre which distinguishes the sOk 
of Briance. ^ 

Previously to its underling the process of throwing, the 
raw silk of France is submitted to examination and selec- 
tion, in order to class the difierent descriptions found in the 
same parceL This is both a tedious and expensive work, 
which is wholly unnecessary when employing Italian raw 
silk. 

The interferen<ie of the Piedmcmtese government, as 
above mentioned, may, at first view, appear to have been 
bttieficial to the sUk trade of that <x>untry, and, so coosid- 
ere&i might lead to the belief that similar intermeddling 
would' be equally advantageous to France : the soundness cir 
this o}»ni(m ma]r, however, be doubted. The efiect of the 
regulations described is to create « monopoly in the hands of 
large and wealthy proprietiHS at the expense of the poorer 
cultivators, who are unjustly restricted m>m the conversion 
of their own produce, and are therefore unable to derive all 
the advantage that might attend, upon their labcn*. The ef> 
feet of this,, and every other kind <k oppression, is to destroy 
the sprmgs of industry, and consequently to -diminish the 
annual prodi»;e. 

In France, the small fiirmer employs, probably, the least 
efficient part of his fimiily, in a pi^wt which somewhat 
im>niotes their worldly advantage, but which, under restric- 
tions simikir to those imposed by the Sardmian government, 
would not oikr sufficieot inducement to comma^ hia atten- 



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CHAP. I. E££LING. 165 

tion. Having reared a few thousand silkworms, he is not 
restricted for the sale of their raw produce to one or two 
wealthy proprietors of filatures, whose interests would lead 
them to combine together and depress the price of his pro- 
duce ; and altliough, for a time, his attempts at reeling ^la^ 
fidl short of the perfection of the art, this is the leaser evil 
of the two, and one which, in the nature of things, must di- 
minish. The powerful ^ur of interest, which is wanting in 
the other case, is continually inciting him towards profi- 
ciency, tiiat he may turn his ipdustry to the greatest j^rofit; 
and- the principle appears incontrovertible, Uiat individuals 
will always judge better for themselves on such subjects 
than any government can judge foaf them. 



CHAP. n. 

THROWINO. 



Art IiroiiKht from'Italy.^Imitrovements sloce nwde.— 6iB|lei.~Tnuii.~ 
Organnoe.— Boiling to discharn Gkim.— Italian TkttiWn Silk.— Keaaoaa 
for its Superior auality.^Hign Protecting Duty on Importation.— Rt- 
doetion thereof— Improved Quaiity of English llurown ulk.— Great Ex* 
teaaioa of the Business.— Improvements in Throwing Machinery not 
4 adopt«d abroad.— Low Wages the Occasion of thii.— Expense of Oifta« 
aning,- Waste in the Process. 

It has been ahready shown, that the English: throwsters 
were indebted to Italy for their knowledge of a inost mate- 
rial part of tbe art of preparing raw silk mr the weaver, and 
that the mills first greeted for this purppse by Messrs. 
Lombe at Derby in the year 1718 were copied from ma- 
chinery then used in Piedmont The £ng[lish reader, who 
has been accustomed to watch with -admiration and pride the 
progress of ingenuity among his eountrymi&n, will not be 
surprised to learn, that the throwing mills then erected, al- 
though justly, at that time, the objects of adimiration, are 
now renderea obsolete by improvements sQbsequendy made. 
On the other hand, in the country whence our enterprising 
countryman first drew his plans, the same arrangements lure 
continued to the present day, without improvement or altera- 
tion of any kind. Even in France, where the silk manufiic- 
ture hss been one of the staples of the country, and where 
there is no deficiency or either ingenuity or enter^se, no 
improved macMnery had, up to a ver^ recent period,' been 
erected ^r the preparation of organzme, altliough it forms 



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166 tSLK MANtTPACTURE. PART HI. 

one of the most important materials used in the production 
(rf* most of their &brics, and is one of indispensable necessi^ 
in some branches of the manufacture. It is believed that, 
to the present moment, the whole of the organzine used in 
France for the manufecture of their best febrics, continues to 
be drawn from the other side of the Alps. 

Raw silk, before it can be used in weaving, is made to 
take one of three forms, being cc»iverted into either singlefl^ 
tram, ot organzine. 

The first, which is the niost simple process, consi^s in 
merely, twisting the raw silk, in order to give more firmnea 
to its texture ; and, ii> fact, during its progress towards the 
formation of the two other preparations, raw silk must pass 
through the intermediate state of singles. 

Tram is formed hy twisting together, not very closely, two 
or more threads of raw silk, and this description most com- 
monly forms the weft or shoot of manufactured goods. 

The forma^on of organzine, ^hich is princi^ill^ used in 
the warp, that is, to form the length of the foods, is a more 
elaborate performance, and requires a more detailed descrq)- 
tion than tne two former, in giving which, it is hoped, that a 
correct idea may be also communicated ^of the preparation 
of tram and singles. - 

To do tins, it is scarcely necessary to attempt the descrip- 
tion of machinery on an extended scale, since the requisite 
explanations can be given with greater clearness, and with 
equal correctness, by means of the simplest mechanical ar- 
rangements. With this view, all notice of the recent im- 
provements which have been adopted in the most considera- 
ble throwing mills will be suspended^ until the simpler ope- 
rations which preceded those improvements have been de- 
tailed. Not that there is, in reality, any complexity in even 
the most elaborate engines ^ throwing silk, but to any per- 
son not much accustomed to the examination, or conversant 
with the uses, of machinery, the mere exhibition of numer- 
'ous cranks and shafts crowded into a narrow space, and giving 
motion to a- multiplicity. of wheels, has a tendency to confuse 
|he mind, and to create an^ appearance of complexity and 
confusion, where, in truth, all, when well understood, proves 
to be beautifully ^istinct and simfde. 

In the descriptions that will be found in this volume, of tba 
various processes, used for the preparation of silken threads, 
and for their conversion into useful fabrics, as well as in all 
explanations of the various mechanical contrivanjees whereby 
these processes are ejected pr simplified, the use of all ted 



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COAP. U« 



TH&OWXKa. 



167 



nical terms is as mach as possible avoided. Whererthese occur, 
as sometimes they must, in order to- avoid prolixity or umie- 
cessary repetitions, such explanations of their meaning and 
value will have been previously ftmidied, as, it is hoped, 
will preserve the general reader from imbibing those false 
conceptions and impressions, which never fail to bewilder 
the mind, and thus render it difficult to acquire any clear 
comprehension of the subject. 

1^ operations which raw silk unde^^oes in its progress 
towards organzine may be divided into six distinct processes. 
1st Winding it from the skeins, upon what are called bob- 
bins, in the winding machines. 
2d. Sorting it, when so Wounds into its different qualities. 
3d. Spinning or twisting each individual thread in the mill. 
4th. Bringing together upon fresh bobbins, two or more 

threads already spun or twisted.- . * 

5th. Twistinff these two or more threads together by means 

<^theinilC 
6th. Sorting the- skeins of twist or organzine, accordiiig to ~ 
their diflferent degrees of fineness. 

The- first operation, that of winding the raw silk, used air- 
ways to be performed by means of a winding machine, the 
construction of whidh may be easily undeistcx>d, if reference 
is made to the diagram here given. The machines com- 
monly used for winding are continued to a considerable 
length, so as to wind a great number of skeins at the s&me 
time, but to simplify this description only a part of the ma- 



Fig.Si 




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168 . 8ILK MAirtrrACTUHE. FABV Uh 

chine is 4mwn, the reiaaining parts beii^ only rednj^ic*- 
tkms of th«t which is giyen. 

Each skein of raw silk must he extended upon a sl^ifat 
reel A A, which k called a swift It is formed of fowr rods 
fixed through an axis, so as to form a sort of douhle wheel 
of eight spokes, which are so disposed that four of them 
make right angles with each other and stand of^oeite and 
parallel to the four spokes of the answering part of the 
wheeL These parallel Bpok6» are then connected together 
hy hands of strmg, thus forming a kind oi lantem wheel ; 
and the bands can be so-placed as to vary the ^fective diam- 
eter of the wheel, in order to suit exactly the size of the 
skein to be fixed upcm it This provision is> rendered neces- 
sary by the circuoMtatice, Uiat the raw silk of most countries 
is wound so as to be equpl in circumferi&nce to a 3rard, accord- 
ing to the standard, measureof the country; and as some dif- 
ference exists in these standards, the reel which would suit 
^the silk imported fi^m one quarter would, without sokie such 
provision, be unsuited to that of any other country. 

The swifts may b6 made to revolve freely. upon wire 
pivots ; but ss it is needful to wind the silk finem th^n, and 
to deliver it upon the bd[>bins, with an uniform degree of 
teniuon, ample means are employed for' creating the neces- 
sary amount • of firiction, either bjr means of a spnng or hv 
hanging a loqped wire upon the axis withmside the reel 
To this lo(^ a small leaden weight is* attadied. B B are 
what are called tiie bobbins; tiiese are madeof ^ood, and 
consist of a hollow a;ds, on each extremity of which is fixed 
a circular disc, the uses of which discs are V> <3tu8e the revo- 
lution of the bobbin, in a manner which Will be describe^ 
and to confine the silk npon Hie hollow axis. These boblnns 
can be easily placed ui or withdrawn from the finme. D is 
called the layer. This is a light wooden rod, having wire 
eyes fixed in it, rnie oi^x)6ite to each bobbin, 1hrou£fh which 
eye the end of the thread upon the reel is passed when it is 
attachc^d to the bobbin. This layer has a lateral motion cqi»- 
mmiicated to it, by means of a crank fixed i^n the cross 
roindle £, which crank is turned by .two levelled wheels 
fixed at the end of the horizcmtal spmdle G. The whole » 
put in motion by the beveUed wheel on the upright shaft F^ 
which is connected with another bevelled wheel on the spinr 
die G. This, revolvmg, carries with it the wfieels or discs H 
H; 'and the discs of the bobbins rating upon these are car* 
Tied round by the fricticMi caused by raeir own weight, antf 
^occasion, consequently, the delivery of the silk from 3ie reels 



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iJttkV* lU 



THSOWINj9. 



1<19 



upon the bobbins. The motion of the layer eauses this de- 
livery to be uniform over the axes of the bobbms. The con* 
slant attendance of children upon this winding machine is 
requisite, in order to join the ends of an^ threads which may 
be broken in winding, and when the skeins are exhausted, to 
place new ones upon the swifts. When the bobbins are filled, 
they are lifted out of the frame, and empty ones are placed 
in their stead, to which the skeins being^ attached, tiie c^nr 
ticm is continued. During the time occupied in renewing 
the skeins upon the swifts, x>r of removing and replacing the 
bobbins, the process is still cmitinued- with ^ uneidiaust^ 
swifts and unfilled bobbins, each being in that respect inde- 
pendent of every other. 

The third operation, that of spinning. or twistinff the 
thread thus wound uponi the bobbiiv, is perfi>rmed wim the 
throwing mill. The particular construction of this mill is 
frequency Varied, but the principle of its action being always 
the same^ it would be usele^ to describe more than one of its 
modificationa Mills of ^reat power and considerable extent . 
are generally used for this purpose ^in England, but on the 
ccmtment it is by ho means unusual for artisans to purchase 
raw £dlk^ and to employ their wives and children in preparing 
it for weaving. The machines which are then used are .ne- 
cessarily smul, and are turned by hand ; fiom the form in 
which it is usual for th^n tp arrange the spindles, the ^PP^ 
ratus is called by them the oval. This throwsting mill is 
now chosen for description in consequence of its simplicity. 




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170 SILK BLA.NUFACTURE. FABT HI. 

The number of spindles which it contains is thirteen, and 
of these, to avoid confusion, only six are shown in the dia^ 
gram ; the remainder would be arranged behind those which 
are seen. Upon each of the spindles the hoUow axis of a 
bobbin, before described, is placed, so that the bobbin has 
liberty to turn freely upon the spindle. Upon each spindle, 
just above the bobbm, a piece of hard wood is so fixed by a 
pin as to cause the wood to revolve with the spindle. . To 
this wood is fixed a piece of wire called a flyer, 6, bent in 
the form here given. At each extremity of the flyer an eye 
is formed ; of these the lower eye stands opposite the middle 
of the bobbin, and the upper eye is exactly 'over the centre 
and a few inches above the top of the Spindle. The thread 
from the bobbin is passed through both these eyes, and also 
through another wire-ejre^ fixed in an oval frame L, which 
has a traversing motion to and fro, communicated to it by 
means of a cranky or an eccentric pin, k. This is fixed in a 
cog-wheel, turned by a pinron upon the. perpendicular axis 
E, the end of the rail 7 bein^ supported^ upon a roller, to 
cause its more easy and regular motion, so that the ^r^ds 
are guided with regularity to the reel K, in the same manner 
as by the layer to the bobbihs in the winding .machine^ before, 
described. Motion is communicated from the crank B to the 
spindles/ by means of a wheel P, connected with a pinion on 
the upper end of the vertical axle E, which also, at its lower 
end, has a drum F to receive the endless strap or band a a. 
This encompasses the oval fi^me G, and ^ves motion to all 
the spindles, being so confined by U)e rollers d and a as to 
press with the requisite degree of force upon the s^nndles, 
and to give to all of them an xmiform celerity. . 

It is now evident, that ^every revbluticMi of the spindle and 
flyer must give a twist io the thread drawn fi^m the bobbin. 
Whether the twist shall be hard or slack depends upon the 
comparative eelerity of the spindles and bobbins, and this 
proportion is regulated by the relative Sizes of the wheel h 
and the pinion i, whence the* reel and bobbin receive their 
motion. For difierent manufacturing purposes silk must be 
thrown or twisted with diflierent degrees of hardness; this is 
provided for by the power of changing the wheel and pinion 
h and i for others of diflTerent proportions^ diameters. 

For the purpose of clearer elucidation, one of the spindles 
is shown without a bobbin, while the rest are all Amounted, 
and supposed to be in action. The skeins upon the reel 
should be nmde to an uniform length, and this is attained by 



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CHAP. II. TRBOWING. 171 

a train of wheels coDBistiiur of a pinion n fixed on the princi- 
pal spindle R, turning ^ wheel o, which has a pinion fixed to 
and turning with it, giving moti^i to a larger wheel p. This, 
a^ain, has another smaller wheel upon its spmdle, with a 
pm fixed in it, so that at every revolution it raises a hammer 
and strikes upon a bell «, whereby the attendant has notice of 
the quantity wound on the skeins. 

When the machine is eniployed'for the first operation of 
twisting raw silk for or^anzine, which requires a strong and 
close twist, the wheel h must be of greater and the pinion i 
of less diameter than, are here represented, in atder that the 
reel K and the bobbins n)ay receive^ a slower motion, in pro- 
portion to the speed of the sjundles. 

.The silk is now in the form of singles,, the only diflference 
between which and the single twist m course of j^eparation 
for orgimzine, besides the de^ee of hardness noticed above* 
ifl, that in the latter process me crank must be turned in an 
(opposite direction, so as to give; a reverse motion- to the ma- 
chmery. Organzine'silk is of the nature of rope, w^iere the 
combli^ed strimds are twisted in an cqpposite direoticm to that 
given to the separate threads, whereas singles and tram are 
twisted only in <»ie direction, similiu'ly to 'twine, or to the in- 
dividual strands of which the larger rope is made. 

Wh^i silk is intended to be dyed in the skein, the twisting 
in this machine is but slight, and its direction must of course 
depend upon its nlterior destination, whether for tram or for 
organzine. Silk thread intended for organzine is, in this 
firat operation, twisted in a left-hand direction. - 

The next operation is to bring two, three, or more of these 
twisted threads together upon one bobbin. The number of 
the threads depends of course upon the substance- Which it is 
intended to give to the organzine, and a careful sorting of 
the threads must be mAde, so as to bring, toother such onl^ 
afl are of an uniform texture. To effect this, a machine is 
used, very similar to the winding machine already, described. 
Instead of gathering the silk tnxn the bobbins on a reel in its 
first twisting in the throwing machine, when the object is to 

rpare organzine, it is usual to transfer it to other bobbins, 
the operation of doubHng, these bobbins are placed in 
fix)nt <^ the winding machine, where, of course, they take 
the place of the swi^ and stand two or three or more in a 
loW, according to the number, of strands to.be subscNiuently 
broog^ht to^t^r in the organzine, in the manner shown by 
the foUowmg figure. 



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178 ULE HANVFACtVBK. rA»T HI. 



1 




The threads in the bobbins are pwned over one and be- 
neath another wooden rail m and n, with both of which ther 
are brought in close contact These rails being covered with 
cloth serve to cleanse the filk in itsnassage, equally well 
with the les9 artificial .means offered by ^® fingers of the 
person employed in winding. 

In their passage or tranefereaee from one set of boblnns to 
the other, each tiiread passes thiOUjgfh a small piece of wood 
e, which slides fi«elyupand down in a mortised hole throngli 
the fixed board / The use of these slides^ which are equd 
in number with the threads to be brought together, will soon 
be seen. All the tln-eads are then passed thioujifh the wire- 
eye li of the layer C^ which it is more convenient to pboe 
behind the bobbin, causing the wire to be bent oiv«r H, as 
shown in the figure. The Iwbbins to be filled, rest upon, and 
take their revolving ihotion fi!om the^wjieels T, as in the 
winding machine. The degree of tension giyea to the silk 
tfai:eadsm winding causes them to raise the sliders e. Should 
any one of the threads break, the slider through which it ' 
passed, no longer supported by it, strikes upon the bent lever 
t s, which, moving upon its centre 10, causes the hook v to 
catchy into the^ notches made fi»- that purpose in the disc of 
the bobbin R and this immediately stops its motioiL The 
winding- of the re^piired. number of threads thus proceeds 
with as much certamty as "^e winding of one would do. It 
is the business of the attendant to repair the broken thread, 
when the slide e being again raised, the weight x, attached 
to the bent lever t v, raises the end t, frees the notched bob- 
bin from the hook v, and the machine is once again in motion. 

The bobbins, thus filled with .double or triple threads, are 
once moire carried to the throwstino- machine, and are there 
sp$m or twisted together by an operatiou sniulur to that al- 
rradjr described, with the sole difl^rence before mentioned, 
of giving a reversed direction to the spindles and fiyers. In 
this operation, the silk, ncrw converted- to organdne, is traiw 
ferred to reels instead of bobbins, and then, being made op 



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CHAP. II. THROWING. 173 

into skeins, is sorted for sale or use. Previously to this, 
however, and in order to prevent its crinkling when re- 
moved, a tendency to which it ha^ acquired in the twisting, 
the reels are subjected fcr two or three minutes to the 
action of steam, which is found effectually and permanently 
to set the twist This is a modern improvement ; it having 
finrmerly been the practice to steep tlie reels in boiling water, 
a more tedious and less effectual operation. The degree of 
hardness given to the twist is varied according to uie pur- 
pose for which it is intended, and depends, as already de- 
scribed^, upon the relative diameters of the wheel and^pinion 
h and i of tiie throwsting machine. . 

The silk thus thrown is called hard silk, and must be boiled 
in order to discharge the gum, which otherwise renders it 
harsh to the touch, and unfit to receive the dye, The silk 
is boiled for about four hours in a plentifal proportion of 
water, into which a quantity oif soap, equal to about one-third 
of thQ weight of the silkj^has been placed ; Uiis assists in dis- 
solving the ^um, and in rendering the silk soft and glbss;^. 

By Uiis boiling, the silk, whfch has already in the previous 
operations of orgaiizining lo6t in the proportion of from Jfiye to 
seven and a^ialf out of each one hundred pounds of its weight, 
is further diminished to twelve, and sometimes to eleven and 
a half ounces for every pojund. Considerable carefulness . is 
called for in this operation, to prevent injury t?) Uie threads 
fi^m burning, which sometimes will occur, and occasion ma* 
terial loss to the manufacturer, or to the dyer, to whom the 
process is intrusted. If, by reason of the viscid gum contain- 
ed in the silk^the skeins adhere to the bottom of the copper 
in which they are boiled, the-he^t is, by that means, necessa- 
rily intercepted in its passage to the water, and accumulated 
in the silk, which is in consequence partially carbonised and 
spoilt Even when the injury thus occurring to-the staple 
of the thread is less apparent, it frequently discovers itself 
when put into the loom, cadsiug infinite trouble jQid delajr to 
the weaver, who Oi^en, in such, a case, cannot weave m a 
working- day of twelve hours more than, in the absence of in- 
jury to the silk, he would have woven in half that'time f and 
the injury to him is therefore one of very serious oonsequence. 

Afler this boiling, the silk is well washed in a current of 
clear water to discharge the 'soap; and When subsequently 
dried, although its weigh); is so sensibly diminished, its bulk 
is, on the contrary^ visibly increased, and it is seen, to have 
acquired that peculiar glossiness and softness of textturo 
which form its principal and characteristic beauty. 
P2 



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174 SILK MAmJFACTVRS. PART HI. 

The gum which has heen now discharged served the use- 
fid purpose of causing the adhesion of th& fibres, as originallj 
wound fifom the cocoons. This end is now more ^^tually 
attained by the twist the thread has received in the throwing 
mill ; and the gum would henceforth hie c»[)nsidered as a ht^ 
eign matter, impairinff the beauty and destroying the flezi> 
bility of its texture. Were the boiling performed befiH« the 
twisting, thi^ operation could scarcely be at ail corojdeted, 
and at best only an eiitangled wooUy or downy substance 
would be obtained, wholly unfit fbr. manufacturing pnrposea 
Before a thrmd df useful texture could be then got, the sSk 
would require to be spun by some process similar to that M- 
lowed witii CQtton wool, or such, indeed, as & necessary with 
the waste goUt drawn ftom ^ dbcoons in the first operation 
of reeling, and with those cocoons >vhich arc injured or re- 
served for breedmg, and which it is found difficult or impos- 
sible to wind in tne filature. 

It has always been asserted, land, if the asserticm be correct, 
it b a curidUs foet, that, notwithstanding the gi^t advantage 
of superior machineiT,.the'£ngIidi throwster is unable to 
produce organzine silk equal in quali^, and at as small an 
expense, or with as little waste, as that prepared in Italy. It 
was long held, and- is still believed by many, that the Italian 
throwster, who is also most i^ually a dealer in silk* reserves 
the finest qualities for his own operations, and exports only 
that which -is inforior. SupposinGf, however, that the dififer- 
ence in the value of tiie tiirown silk is such as is stated, it n 
perhaps nearer to the truth to believe that the climate maj 
mfluence the quality of a substance so delicate, since it is 
well known tlmt) during certaui states of the'atmosphere, the 
throwing of silk £9 performed in this countiy at a compara* 
ative dimdvantage. O it may be, that the fibre of the silk 
is iniuriottsly ejected by it^bemg packed before twisting, or 
l»y the len^ened voyi^fe to wludi it is subjeeted in its 
transit to tms country ; and the higher estimation uniformly 
evinced by our throwsters fpr talki of the new crop, over that 
Wbieh has lain fbr some time in the ^^arehouse, would se^n 
to mdicate another cause for the alleged superiorly <^ Italian 

Xzine. It is owinff to this prefo^ence' of foreign thrown 
hat, in the ftce c? a high protecting duty, it has always 
met with a certain, although limited, demand fit)ifi the En^- 
litfh silk weaver. ^ Prior to the year 1824 this protection m 
i^rtft of the English throwster amounted to more than nine 
shillings per pound ; and when^ hy the removal of all save 
the m«rtly nonmial dut^'of one penny per pound on raw 



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CHAP. II. ivtowixa. 175 

Bilk, tuch a spur was ^iven to this branch of the manufac- 
tore» fiiBi tiie quantity of silk thrown in England was doubled, 
tiie importatioa of nnreiffn thrown silk, although burdened 
with a duty of sevenr riiiflings and sixpence per pound, was 
not diminished, but rather the reverse. This impost in fkvor 
of the home throwster was afterwards reduced to five shil- 
Kncs, and Bubeequentl;^> in the year 1829, to three shiUinffs 
and sixpence per 'pound,*without any material alteration m 
the quantity impcrted following these abatements. These 
frets must b^ hekt to confirm the correctness of the belief 
that fore^ organzini^ is, to a certain extent, and in some 
bnnch^ necessary to the operations of the weaver^ who, 
therefore, will purchase it,' whatever inay be the duty where- 
mth it is burdened ; so that, in truth,, any impost would be 
nearly inOperative-asa proteetioil to the EngBsh tluowster, 
while it woM constitute a coxisiderabie .hardship to the 
weaver. It is certain, however, that this preference of Ital- 
ian thrown silk is ftst disappearing;, and there are now 
many amon^ the principal English manufacturers who make 
nse of Riglidi thrown silk /exclusively for the manufacture 
of ©very description of -goods. -^ ^ 

The act of parliament, whiclf was passed in the year 
1824, whej^eby the duty on raw silk was all but aboliished, 
and that on thrown silk was so mted^erially reduced, occasioned; 
as has already been remafked, considerable animation 
among, the silk throwsters, who for some time experienced 
great difficulty in keeping pace with the diemands of the 
manuftcturers. This state, of "things naturally led not only 
to a great extension oftheir establishments, and* ta the erec- 
tion of new throwing mills in various parts of the country, 
but called likewise the attention of ingenious men to the im- 
provement of machinery ahready employed in the processes 
of throwing, and te the propdemg of neW modes of .effecting 
these processes. It does 'not appear, however, that any new 
a^d material invention ^as hitherto been birought into use jn 
tlnrowing machinery ; the improvements effected being, wtth 
■ome comparatively immaterial exceptions, confined to tha 
more perfect finmation and execution of madiinery ahreadv 
kiventod. Ther rude wooden wheels and drivers which 
ware long need have now given place to well constructed 
eaat^iron gearinff ; iihe old rough wrought-iron spindles are 
now supersede by others of Bteel, accurately turned; and 
metallie bearings have been substituted for the barbarous 
wooden lAmuMers with whidi ^e throwsters were formerly 
eoBtented* The eonsequenee hae been, tiiat at a lest ex 



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m6 SILK HAITOTACTUBE. PAST m. 

pense of power the spindles have been made, to revolve with 
treble and even fourfold speed ; thus economizing time, ma- 
chinery, and labor. - - 

Hitherto these improvements do not appear ^ havfe found 
their way across the Channel ; and the French and Itahap 
throwsters are still contented if their spindles revolve 900 to 
400 times in each minute, while ours are pe^rming coib- 
monly 1800* and sometinies even 3000, gyrations in the 
Bame space of tune. 0«r French rivals are folly aware Imw 
greatly the English throwsters are in advance of them in 
this particular, out they have not the same inducement tlot 
exists in this country to incur a heavy fifst expense in alten- 
fions, that they may secure a prpspective advantage. From 
the lower wages paid for labor in that <;ountry, such advan- 
tage would not be in any proportion to that recked by oar 
manufactiirers. Wherever tne wages^ of labor are highesl, 
tiiere always will be found the greatest encouragement fer 
the exercise of ingenuity in abridgipg its amount^ l%e 
wages paid in Lyons to men emjdoyed in silk-naills ck)e8 not 
average more than six shillings and sixpence per week; uid 
the earnings of women and girls, who, taken together, form 
five sixths of the number of hands employed, scarcely exceed 
three shilliogs per week, for which pittances the whole are 
, required to labor fourteen hours per dyem. 

The French throwsters have another disadvantage. ITiey 
are dealers as. well as manufacturers* buying the raw silk and 
selling their org^mzine through brokers to the silk-men. The 
mills being situated in-the centre of the sQk-pxsducing dis- 
trict, their purcbases are made frcon country formers, who 
bring to market only small quantities seldom more than fiAy, 
and most generally not exceeding ten pounds of raw silk in a 
parcel. , On-. this account the throwjster must incur additioDal 
labor and expense in sorting the skeins, so as to produce a 
tolerably regular thread of orffanzincr In this they fr^juently 
succeed bat indi^erently ; and the consequent disadvantage 
in their Kiles is poorly compei\sat(?d by the two or three per 
cent which they reckon upon gaining in the weight fiom the 
draught of the scale in mating so many small purchases. 

The expense of organzinmg in France, as ordinarily 
conducted, is said not to exceed two shillings and nine-peace 
to three shillings per pound, including the loss from waste. 
MM. Chartron, pere etfils, at St Valliery whose Bilk estab- 
lishment is reputed to be tbe most extensiye in France, and 
who conduct the manufacture in, all its various - branches,— 
jeelmg firpm the cocoons, tiirowing, and weaving,^:»-estiaiate 



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GSAPS IX. TKKowmo. 1T7 

the expenses of the throwing processes higher than the price 
here mentioned. They convert their raw silk into orgaa- 
zine for use, and not for sale, and consequently may foe sup- 
poeed to employ more carefblness, in the operations than is 
betstowed in other estahlishments differently circumstanced, 
drawing a mc»^«than equivalent advantage therefrom in the 
greater &cility ^hich accompanies the subsequent stages of 
their naanu&cture. Where the requisite degrees of atten- 
tion have been^ bestowed in reeling, sorting, and throwing, 
ttk^ French grown sUk is undoubtedly of very fine quality, 
being fully equal to the Ittilian. The Prench manufacturers 
themselves give a jNrefer^ice to the production of their own 
eoil and mdust^. 

The charge made at |)re»ent in the neighborhood of Lon- 
don fbr organzming Italian silk is about five shillings and 9ix- 
pMice ^ pound, Sie throwster taking upon himself out of 
this pnce, to make good to the merchant the value of the 
waste, whatever it may prove. If4lie owner of the i^k b 
^cont»it to bear this loss of weight, the throwster will abate 
ene shilUBg per pouiid of Ms* charge. The waste varies mar 
teriidly in n&c fvodoced from difi^rent filat^ures, and is mudi 
ffrealer wi^ tlutt brought from Italy thiin is hicurred with 
me Aft bidia eompany*s miporta^ons ^roih Ben^. The 
lose sustamed in the processes of tlm>wing this kmd <^ nlk 
Js said scimietimes Hot to exceed two per cent upon the 
weight of the raw material; thus givmg evidence (^ the 
great desre^ e€ earefubiesB wbidi hc^ been vsed m the ori- 
ginal redii^ of the cocoona 

In a throwing-mill situated in the neighborhood of London, 
which has been recently erected, and where due attention 
has been paid to tiie fitness <^ the niachinery, there are 1600 
swifts em^oyed, with & prop(»tk>nate number of simidles. 
These are all put in mjvtion by a steam engine, on the high- . 
pressure principle, of d^c-horse power, having a Boiler <:f ca^ 
pacity eqiK^ to the production of steam for an engine of 
double that force. The^tUTlua stj^ain is employed in warm- 
ing and drying the fectory. In this establishment, which is 
very carefully and ably conducted, there are employed 12Q 

nle, mostly young girls ; and the quantity of silk thrown 
ig the whole year, the works being constantly employed, 
is about 19,000 pounds' weight The weekly performance 
varies somein^t according to the quality of the material un- 
der ccmversion, and also with the hygrometric state of the at- 
UMsphere; for which reason the yearly working is stated, 
lather than fkU into' any unmtentional cliisrepresentatieB by 
giving the result of only one week's operations. 



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I7t 8IUL MANVrACTUBB. FART m. 

CHAP. m. 

Antiquity of the Art.— Involved in Obscmity.—Littre Improvement in 
Weaving Apparatus.— Indian Manner of Weaving.— Simple l^omn.— 
Mode ofits Action.— Warping Machine.— Mounting the Loom. — Shuttle. 
—Methods of Weaving.— Riband Weaving.— Engine Loom. 

The art of combining and inteiiacing fibrous substances 
with a view to the formation of cloth is of the very highest 
antiquity, so Uiat its origin is involved in deep obscurity. It 
is impossible to adjudge to any one people the merit of its 
first discovery: it is mdeed highly probable, that many com- 
munities might, with, perfect justice, lay claim to this merit 
The same wants, and the possession of nearly abnilar means 
fi)r their gratificaticm, might naturally lead to a discovery of 
the method whereby those means could be rendered available. 
n%e testimony of almost, every traveller who has explored 
new regions acqtiaints us with the f$Lct that weaving, in some 
form or other, has been invented and pursued in aiiiSost ev^ 
country, where the inhabitants are led l^ the nature of the 
climate to seek prot^tion for their bodies fipom its in- 
clemency. 

It is probable that in its earliest form, weaving consisted 
merely in the intermixture of substances which h^d under- 
gone little or no previous preparatjon.. That the first inv^t- 
«d cloth was composed of rushes, or straws, or of shreds of 
the bark aiid fibrous parts of 4rees or of plants, whidi needed 
not the previous operation of spinning. It mus^ have formed 
a most important epoch in the progress of any country, when 
its inhabitants first came to the JkiK)wiedgO,:tnat some amonif 
those fibrous substances were "bajntble cf beings so united by 
twisting as to. form continuoiis and unbroken threads, whose 
strength allowed of their taking the place of ruder materials. 

The obscurity wherein. the whoje Aft of spinning and 
weaving is involved prevents the formation of ai^ opimoa 
concerning the first adoption of 'silk among the substances 
employed in this manner. In the east, the high antiquity of 
the pursuit of rearing silkworms has already .been establish- 
ed ; and it would form a very useless subject of ispecuktioii 
to inquire how soon, in that portion of the globe, this pursuit 
followed the discovery of the weaver's art It is welikncwa 
that among European nations the waving of Hnen and woo^ 
len cloths was practised and brought to a coqsid^:able stats 



] 



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eSAP. Ill* PLAIN WBA^IITG. 179 

of advancement before they arrived at any knowledge of the 
existence of such a substance m nature as silk ; when^ there^ 
fore, fabrics wrought from this curious and beautifhl filament 
first appeared among the Greeks, it found them prepared, 
as has been shown, to- re-model the costly substance into 
dn^>eTie8 of more moderate expense; and when, at a stUl 
later period, the unwtought material was obtained, there was 
no longer any (difficulty in converting it to purposes at once 
of nseralness and embelHsbment 

The machine employed for enablhig the weaver to perform 
his labors has, up to very recent times, been the object of but 
little cJl^ange or improvement In England, where mechan- 
ical science has long been made the handmaid of the arts ,ii\ 
almost all branches of industry, every improvement which 
has been introduced in tlie mechanism of "Uie loom is compar- 
atively recent ; and for many of these imjHrovements we have 
been indebted to foreign invention, rather th'an to the con- 
trivances of native ingenuity. Looms exactly similar, both 
in form and arrangement of parts to iheee which- have been. 
used time out of mind bjr the weaving' craft, are still to be 
seen in daily occupaticMi, preferred even, for every purpose to 
which they can be made available, by the' laboring artisan. 

Simple as are these looms, they can yet be favorably con- 
trasted with the rude contrivanpes still pursued in Jndia,- 
where the wretched weaver performs his Jfibors in the open 
air, choosing his station under tis^§8, whose i^hade may protect 
him from the scorching rays ofTthe sun. . Here, extending 
the threads which compose the waro of his intend^ cloth 
lenffthwise, between two bamboo rollers, which are fiistened 
to £e turf by wociden pins, he digs a hole m the earth large 
enough to contain his legs v/hen in a sitting posture ; then, 
Buspendiuj^ to a branch c^a tree the cords which are intended^ 
to cause the reciprocal raising and depresflinr of the alternate'' 
threads of his warp, he fixes underneath, and connected with 
the cords, two lodpe, into which inserting the grei^t toe of 
either foot he is ready to, commence his operations, TTie 
shuttle, wherewith he causes the ctoss threads or woof to in- 
terlace the waip, is in form like a netting needle, and being 
somewhat longer than t^e breadth of the warp, is made to 
perform tbe office of < batten, by striking the threads of the 
woof X)r shoot close up to each other. ' 

With this rude apparatus the patient Indian succeeds m 
weaving fabrics, which, for delicacy of texture, (Annot be 
surpassed, and can hardly be rivalled by the European 
weaver, tvcn when his labors tite aided by the most elaborate 



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machiiiery. But it ie only In climatei wbeie the alwliit^ 
natural wants of man are &Wj and under syrtemfi of soven- 
ment \^here the oppresskma of the dominant caste aepi?e 
the unhappy bulk of the neople of all means §at attaining 
more than suflices fbr the barest supply of those want^ ihti 
such labors can be so performed.* 

The art of weavhur varies but little, wlAtever may be tbe 
material which is me subiect of the manu&ctuie. Tbe 
principal differ^ce discernible in the construction of hoam 
mtended for the weavip^ of silken or of woollen fiibrics con- 
sists in the greater strength and stability r^uired for the kU- 
ter machine, in consequence of the less.d^lioate nature of tbe 
substance employed. 

The simple loom, ordinarily ^bed in weaving plain silka^ ii 
similaf to ue following representation : — 

Fig.n. 




A is the beam or yam-roll, on ^oh the threads which 
form the warp are wound, after being regularly spread in a 
manner which will be described; B is the d^a-beam or 
breast-roll, to which the ends ^ the warp are alsp attached, 
and on which the woven silk is wound ^en finished f Ciia 



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J 



•chap; in. ptAnc weaving. 181 

weight attached to the frame of the lomn, and BUdpe&ded ov^ 
the yarat-roU to produce, by the fHction of its cord, the reqai- 
flite tension of the threads of the warpt D £ are treadles, oh 
which the weaver presses his feet alternately ; and, as the 
treadle D is attached to the heddle* or harness d d, while the 
other treadle E is attached to the beddle e e, it will be evi- 
dent that the depression of each treadle will correspondingly 
influeilce the portion of its heddle. The two heddles d d 
mod e e are each ibrmed of two horizontal sticks, connected 
tiifoogh their whole extent by numerous small cords of an 
equal length ; and the two heddles are so united liy a rope 
and pulley, as shown in the drawing, or by any o&er con- 
venient apparatus, that the depression of one must cause the 
raising of the other. These heddles, which are commonly 
called the harness of the loom, are fbrnished with loops at the 
points where they will be intersected by the warp, each in- 
dividual thread of which is passed, in regular succession, 
through the cords of one or other of the heddles, so that 
each alternate thread of the w5rp is passed through the loops 
of the one heddle, while the intermediate threads are passed 
between the cords of that one, and through the loops of the 
other heddles. It is now evident that the depression of the 
heddle d d, by means of the treadle D, will cause the depres- 
sicHi of all the threads of the warp which nass through its 
loops, and at the same time will raise the heddle e e, together 
wiUi all the intermediate threads of the warp which "pass 
through'' its loops, leaving, between the two divisions c^ 
threads, a space of about two or three inches, which is called 
the shed, fi^ the passa^^e of the shuttle.. A modem improve- 
ment substitutes fi)r the loops small metallic eyes, throu^ 
which the warp threluls are passed, and by this means the 
wearing of the threads is in some measure avoided : these 
eyes are called mails. The frame F G G H is called the 
batten or ky, and for greater clearness is shown by a separata 
drawing. 

This batten is mispended by its bar F from the upper 
framing of the loom in such a manner that it will swing to 
and fro as on a centre of motion. A shelf, called the shuttle- 
race, is formed by msikms the bottom bar H broader than 
the Me rails GG, so that it projects about an inch and a half 
beyond them on the side farthest from the breast-roll. The 

• TUs part of the asparatiu ii known in aameiMrts oftbe eoantry by tJ|# 
name of ^mlds, in other placet, at in London, the weaver utet the djstincy 
tive name of Lamei. but at that of Heddle appeara to be most generaUy a|^ 
plied, t]i9 latter navi^tviU be tited preferably in thit yolume. 

Q 



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182 8ILK XAiniFACmTSE. FAI^ Itt. I 

ends of this &huttle-race are prolong[ed li^ boards, idiich form ] 
troufi^hs or bpxes 1 1, in each of which is placed a piece of 
wood or thick leathar, K K, called a pecker or driver, and 
these drivers are made to traverse on small guide wires fixed 
between the side rails 6 G and the ends of the troughs I i 
The drivers are united by a slack string fiistened to each, 
and meeting at the handle j, L is the. reed which is coov 
posed sometmies of small portions of split reeds or canes, but 
moBl frequently of flattened steel or brass wices^ These ara 




fixed, like the teeth of a comb, in a frame which- rests upon 
the shuttle-race H, and the threads of the warp are passed 
through the interstitial spaces of the reed. These are cov- 
ered by a top piece, havmg a longitudinal groove along it» 
lower side, and which is odled the lay-cap. M M (fig. ll.> 
are cylindrical bars Of wood made smooth, which are placed 
horizontally between the alternate threads of the warp, to 
prevent their becoming by any means entangled. Sometimes 
three of these sticks are used, and then one of them is insert* 
ed in the shed and drawn to its proper station, white the 
threads of the warp are actuated by one treadle, and the othes 
two are introduced when the other treadle is depressed. By 
this means a longitudinal crossing of the threads of the warp 
is effected which riders them ^1 less liable to entangle- 
ment N is the weaver's seat, and being hung by roui^ed 
ends, resting in corresp(»iding brackets fixed to the framing, 
the positicm of this seat accommodates itself to the conve- 
liieuce of the weaver in the different movements of his labor. 



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CHAP. in. PLAIN WEAVING. 188 

It must be lifted out when the weaver either takes or quits 
his seat at the loom, and can he readily replaced. 

Th^ operation of warping is one which must be performed 
with carefiil accuracy, asftn uniform tension of each thread 
t)f the warp is essential to the perfection of woven fabric& 
Some conception may be formed of the <;areftilness required 
in this part of the weaver's labor, when it is considered that 
a piece of fine silk, whose width is not greater than twenty 
inches, frequently has the breadth of its warp made up m 
more ^an eight thousand threads, each one of which must 
be so accurately di^»sed in its proper station as to avoid en- 
tanglement or connision throughout its whole extent In 
former times this operation was efiected by eztendinff the 
threads at length in a field, in which manner it is still per- 
formed in China, and by the native weavers in India. It was 
a conraderable improvement when, instead of this tedious 
process, a fhune was employed aa which the threads were 
extended and wound backwards and fbrwards over pegs. 
This mode, however, was stillvery tedious, and therefi»re ex- 
pendve, besided requiring a ceaseless vigilance on the part 
of the persons employed to preserve the regularity of the 
threads. To meet th^se evils, the warping machine, which 
will now be described, was invented. 

It cmitsists of a tressel, upon which- are placed a number of 
lx>bbins : these are arranged in rows ; and it is usual to wind 
together the contents of forty^six bobbins. The - thread from 
each of these is drawn over a wire, aad passed through a 
perforated piece of wood, whence the threads are conducted 
altogether to a large reel. This is supported in a finme, and 
it turns by means of a fixed pulley placed at the lower ex- 
tremity of its vertical axis, whence an endless band passes to 
the groove of a horizontal wheel, which is fixed to a spindle 
und turned by a handle. A child seated upon a stool (to 
which the horizontal wheel is fixed) gives motion to this 
wheel, and sets the whole in action, drawing the threads 
from the bobbins, and transferring them, assembled together, 
to the warping machine. In order to distribute the w^rp 
over the reel, me perflated piece of wood is so attached to 
an upright post of the frame, as to slide fredy upon it, and 
bein? suspended to the spindle by a cord, which passes over 
a pulley, the rotationrof the spindle l^ winding upon itself 
and therefore shortening this cord raise the piece of wood so 
as to distribute the warp evenly, in a spiral form, over the 
sur&ce of the reel, without one part lapping upon another. 



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184 8ILX MANUFACTUSB. PABT Ul. 

When the remiiiite length is leeled off thfe boUnns, tbt 
threads are tied together and cut 

'Hie warp ia now compoaed of threads of an equal length, 
and when orawn from the reel is wound into the form m a 
ban in readiness fi>r the earn Mpreader or turner on to fix» or 
mount it in the loom. As the warp is required to be of 
a greater length than the reel contiuns when one spiral has 
bc^ wound upon its sur&ce, the threads are then turned 
over studs placed at the top and bottom of the reel for that 
purpose ; and a reverse motion being giv^i to the reel, the 
wooden piece sinks graduidly by the unwinding of its ^indle, 
llie threads are then delivered from the bobbins, and laid off 
in a descending spiral upcm the reel ; and this operation may 
be again reversed and repeated until a sufficient length or 
warp is ol^ained. 

In mounting the bom, that is, in fixing the warp prepara- 
tory to the commencement of actual weaving, the first op& 



ration is to roll regularly upon the beam, ox yarn-roll, the dif- 
ferent portions of warp threads thus brought together, and 
which are known by the weavers as /lort^et, and this is called 
beaming, to ^9ect this, two or more persons must be em* 
pk^ed. The instrument used for the purpose of guiding^ the 
threads of the warp, and of spreading them resulaxly upon , 
the yanhzoU, is called a separator, or ravel, and is, in form, 
rery similar to the reed already described, bemg made of a 
number of shreds of sane, or ni wire fastened together in a 
rail of wood, in the shape of a oomb. These ravels are 
jx^ade oi different dimensions to suit dif^rent descriptions <^ 
work. Between these teeth, or reeds, the threads of the^ 
warp Kte [daoed, and are there confined by a top-piece similar 
to the lay-<»p of the reed, and which ip this case is called 
the cape. The threads of the warp being separated and 
ffuided hj means of the ravel, one or two persons keep the 
ureads at their proper degree of tension, while another 
winds them on the yam-roU, by turning it on its centre. 

The next process is drawings or entering, which is pass- 
ing each thread of the w&rp regularly through its appropri- 
ILte loop in the heddle. To e^ct this, the weaver places 
hiipself^ in fW>nt of the heddles ; ^nd opening the following 
loop of each heddle in succession, takes the threads from a 
person string behind the heddles, whose business it is to 
select and deliver them in their prop^ order, when they are 
drawn through the loops. The warp thus drawn through the 
heddles is piueed through the interstitial ^Mices of the reed 
by the assistance of a sinall hook, call^ a cdey, several 



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CHAP. 111. 1>£AIN WEAVI^TG.* 185 

threads, according to the texture of the goods, being passed 
through each interval of the reed, but an equal number of 
threads being inserted between each opehing, with the ex- 
ception of ,the twelve outer or marginal £nt8 or wires, 
through which an increased number oi threads are passed, in 
order to form the selvage of the goods. The reed is then 
placed in the lay or batten ; the ends of the warp threads are 
knotted together in several portions, which are tied to a shaft, 
and this being connected by cords to the cloth-beam, and the 
threads being stretched, the warp is residy for weaving. The 
.weaver, whenever able to do so, simplifies this operation of 
drawing or entering, by connecting the threads of his new 
warp, or can^, with the threads of the warp just on the point 
of being finished. This, of course, saves the labor of pass- 
mg the new threads through the mails and the dents of the 
reed, since they mnst then follow regularly those to which 
they are attached. To distinguish it from the original en- 
tering of the warp through the heddles^ the weavers give the 
name of ttoisting on to this expedient, which saves them 
seven eighths of the expense they must 6therwise incur in 
mounting the loom. 

The shuttle is formed from a piece of boxwood, varying in 
length fiom three to «x inched and.is'pointed at ^ach end : 



it has in its upper side an oblong cavity, for the purpose of 
receiving a hollow cane, which, however, is always called a 
quill, probably because quills may have been usuaUy employ- 
eA in former days for this purpose ; up(»i this the silk to be 
used in forming |he sho9t is wound ; a metal wire being pass- 
ed through the hollow of the quill forms its axis, about which 
it must revolve freely when inserted in the shuttle. 

The <^antity of silk wound upon each of these quills is 
necessarily but small, and their frequent renewal is indich 
pensahle. For this purpose the shuttle has in its cavity two 
small holes, one in the centre of each end, for ^e insertba 
of the points of this axis. ^ One of these holes has a firing 
oonceEdcMd within it, which, by its compression, allows of the 
insertion of one end of the wire to a depth sufficient for ad- 
mitting the other end to enter the opposite hole ; and when 
this is 80 inserted, the spring prevents its spontaneous with- 
Q2 



IM SILK MAiruFAcnmc. past nx. 

drawftl, while it oSen no impediment tx> the next duuigiiig 
of the quilL 

The onlv art required in winding the quills is to provide 
that the silk i&all he delivered freely from them : ttte best 
form for this purpose is found to be that of a doable cone. 
The wmdinff of these quills is usually intrusted to young 
children. There is a hole in the side of the shuttle commu- 
nicating with tiie cavity, and furnished with an eye of glass, 
to prevent the cutting of the silk in its passage ; through this 
hole, the end of the silk is drawn by the weaver, who so 
places it with his finger, that, applying his mouth to the eye, 
and drawing in his breath, the silk is forced through by 
the current of air into his mouth. 

The weaver now places himself in the seat of the loom, 
and leaning liffhtJy against the cloth-roll {^aces his feet upon 
the treadles. In his right hand he takes the handle of the 
string attached to the two drivers, and his left hand holds the 
lay-cap or cover of the reed. The shuttle being placed in 
the trough against one of the drivers, and between it and the 
warp, the weaver commences his operation by pres^ufi^ down 
with his foot one of the treadles : this depresses one half of 
the threads of the warp, while it raises the others. He then 
^ves a puU, or rather a jerk, to the handle of the driver, in 
such a manner that the shuttle is thrown by it through the 
shed or opening between the ^threads of the warp into the 
oi^)osite trough, and against the other driver, leaving behind 
it the thread which is to form the shoQt The batten being 
then pulled by the left hand tov^eurds him, the riioot, which 
was lying loose between the warp, is, by means of the reed, 
driven up towards the cloth-roll. The other treadle beiiu^ 
now in its turn depressed, the operation is reversed ; the at 
ternate threads of the warp change places, and the diuttle is 
a^in thrown, by another jer^ of 3ie driver, into the samepo- 
•ttimi in the opposite trough which it first occupied. The 
batten, which had returned by its own weight to its vertical 
position, is ajirain pulled towards the cloth-roll, and, by acoi- 
stattt repetition of these movements, the weaving is effected. 
When the labor has been continued long enough to complete 
a few inchea of woven cloth, this is wound upon the cloth- 
roll, the rotations of which are effected by means of a short 
lever inserted for that purpose into holes made at the right- 
hand end of the cloth-roll, and this end being ftimished with 
a serrated or ratchet wheel, a pall or click foiling into iti 
teeth, prevents the roll returning. The woven sift is kept 
at its proper degree of extension by small hooks, called temp^ 



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<&o(^^.jS 



lets, coiinected with strings which pass through pulleys at 
either side of the loom, a»d are connected wiUi weights at 
their other extremities. 

Plain weaving is thus seen to be a yery simple operation. 
A certain degree of proficiency in the art may doubtiess be 
quickly and easily attained, but much practice and attention 
are nevertheless required^ in order to form a dexterous 
weaver, so as to enable him to produce well-woven febrics, 
and to accomplish within a given time such a portion <^ 
work as will earn for him a competent subdstence. 

Many tyros in the art So use their feet as to depress the 
treadles far too suddenly ; the bad consequence of which is, 
that by the sudden relaxation and tension of the thre»Bids of 
the warp, such among them as may at any point be weak 
are broken, the tendency to which accident is increased by 
the ipreater firiction a^[ain8t the dents of the reed. Considera> 
Ue tmie is then lost m renewing the broken threads ; ft^ 
quently more than would have sufficed, in. the absence of 
such accidents, for the actual weaving of the goods. The 
evil is still greater if, through inattention, the shuttle is kept 
at work after the breaking of one or more warp threads. 
Broken threads cannot, of course, retain their relative po- 
sition with the rest, but cross over or become interlaced with 
others, to the manifest injury both of the look and actual 
quality of the fiibric. Frequently, too, these broken threads 
interfere with the passage of the shuttle, and occasimi farther 
mischief by the breaking of other portions of the threads. 

If the motion ffiven to the shuttle be more than suffiqiently 
rapid, it will strike too forcibly against the opposite driver, 
and by its recoil wUl slacken &e thread of the shoot, upon 
the due tension of which much of the beauty of the fiioric 
depends 

It is also of importance that the batten should be brought 
fbrward against the shoot with an equal degree of force at 
each stroke, otherwise there would he no uniformity in the 
thickness of the cloth. A knowled^ of the degrees of force 
prc^r to be a^^lied to fabrics of different natures and de- 
greea of fineness can only be acquired by attention and long 
practice. An experienced weaver always endeavors so to 
mount his loom, that the batten shall have such a range or 
■wing as is proporti<med to the texture of the ^oods under 
prepuatbn. The motion of the batten, as it swmgs to and 
nro, is similar to that of a pendulum tracing the arc of a cir- 
cle, and the greater or less extent of this arc determines th« 
greater or less degree of force wherewith the shoot ii driTen 



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188 SILK MAKUFACTITSS. PAST nX» 

home ; for which reason it is of importance that the woven 
cloth should be very frequentlv taken up or wound on the 
cloth-roll, lest the uniformity of its texture should be inter- 
nipted by the diminished range of the batten. In weaving 
coarse or thick goods the batten should be hung so as to give 
it sreater nlay, and consequently more force, than where &ie 
and light mbrics are woven. 

Many experienced weavef^ continue to use the ancient 
mode of passing or throwing the shuttle throu£^ the shed of 
the warp from one hand U>5ie other, ra&er than adopt the 
use of the drivers. In this case, both hands of the weaver 
being occupied in passing the shuttle, the batten is weighted, 
•0 as to fall with the proper degree of force against the shoot; 
and when.the batten has performed this office, it is made to 
resume its {nrc^r position by means of whichever hand may 
in turn be at kberfy. This method seems preferable to ta^ 
one already described, where the weight is am>Hed so as to 
draw the batten awav from the web, to which tatter it most 
then be brought by the hands of the w^ver; a mode which 
seems liable to more than one ol^ection. The force applied 
to the batten cannot be so ccmstant a quantity under the man* 
ual operation of the weaver, as when eil^ted by an unvary- 
ing weight, especially where the use of the fly-shuttle is not 
resorted to, and the change in the action of his hands from 
the throwing of a shuttle to the pulling of a batten must in- 
crease the toil of the weaver more than is caused by merely 
pushing the batten so as to allow the passing of the i^uttle. 
If, toa the fytce is applied f^efbrably to one side of the bat- 
ten, me shoot will be more closely driven there than on the 
Opposite 9ide, and the work, in consequence, will not prove 
equally perfect In weaving goods of great breadth, the 
dy-shutUe may be considered as an indispensable instrument, 
And indeed it would seem that nothing but the preference ac- 
quired through habit, can occasion uie employment of the 
ancient shutUe rather than of this. There can be no doubt 
that, fcMT an operation to be - effectually performed by one 
hand, where two would otherwise h^ indispensable, must 
give the workman a' greater ccHumand over other parts c^his 
operations.. 

When fine goods are woven, the loops of the harness would 
be very inconveniently crowded together, if two heddles 
only were employed. It is customary, therefore, in such 
cases, to use four, six, or even n^ore heddles; but this causes 
no alteration in the action of the loom, the heddles being 
made to work in pairs or sets, caUed leaves of heddles, 



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CHAP, in* PLAIN VnBAVINO. 169 

where all coaxpqt&ng the same leaf are raised and deprened 
hy the same treadle. 

It is of consequence that looms should be erected of a true 
rectaogular form, or the work will otherwise be all awry 
and unsightly. It is likewise important that the loom should 
be subetuitialljr made and firmly fixed, to prevent any tremu- 
lous motion in its working, which would cause the same evil, 
by producing an unequal tension <^the warp. 

The weaving of plain ribands is usually performed in a 
loom which enables ^e weaver to operate upon several 
lengths or warps at the same time ; the number of these 
vanes, being seldom under eight ol* beyond twenty-eight 
The apparatus whereby this is efiected is called the Dutch 
Engine Loom^ a name which sufficiently indicates its origin. 
It is worked by the hands, and with treadles for the feet, in 
the same way as a common loom; each warp occupies a sep- 
arate shuttle, which, unless the weaver were furnished with 
as many arms as Briareus, cannot, it is evident, be passed 
from liand to hand. The apparatus for impelling the shuttles 
to and fto is, owing to a resemblance in its form to that im- 
plem^t,. called a ladder. This ladder slides horizontally in 
a groove made in the IxUten; and the whole being put in 
motion bv the reciprocating action of a handle situated near 
the middle of the lay-cap, each cross-bu* of the ladder is' 
made to strike in the manner of a driver, alternately right 
ind left, upon one of the two shuttles between which it is 
I^aced. These engine looms do not require any yam-roll <ff 
cloth-rolL The warps hang oyer pulleys, in loops which are - 
weighted, and the ntMmds heing similarly diqpoeed, are car- 
ried awav as they are woven. This movement is precisely 
rq^ulated by causing the batten to strike against bloclu 
placed on the upright posts of the framing in fiw^ of the 
toom, so that the progress of the batten being prevented be* 
yond the requisite- pomt, the shoot is driven home in the web 
with the exact degree of force which is proper. The same 
impulsion, assisted by the weights, drives the woven fabrics 
in minute porticms, as they are completed* over the pulleys, 
and draws the warps forward in the same degree, so that the 
only interruption fh>m his work experiencea by the weaver 
is when the weights have run through the range assigned to 
them. The finisned ribands are then wound up, and fresh 
lengths of warp unwound; the weights are again applied as 
at first, and the weaving recommenced. Some of these en- 
gine looms are so constructed as, hy the addition of a simple 
mechanisai, to render even this interruption unnecessary; 



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190 snX MANVFACTURS. PAST m. 

tlie woven ribands being wonnd, and the warps unwound, it 
proportion as the weaving goes forward. 

With one of these looms a diligent workman may wea?e 
one yard in an hour of as many narrow ribands as the loco 
is qualified to produce at the same time. 

The bobbins upon vpiiich the warps are wound, perfonn 
the same c^ce as the yam-roll in a common single loom. 
From these bobbins, the warps pass over pulleys, each of 
which luLS close to H, and «t its side, a smaller roller or 
pulley. Over these the warps are again turned after be- 
ing extended by weights, one of which is suspended to 
•each warp. From these smaller pulleys each warp descends 
to a horizontal roller which is on a level with the shat* 
He-race. This roller has attached to it a^Bories of reeds or 
rieys, similar in construction to those contained in the bet- 
ten; and these additional reeds, one of which is used for 
«ach waip, are needed in this case, because the proper and 
regular sinreading of the warps has not been previously or 
otherwise accomplished. 

The arrangement of the heddles, the passa^ of the warps 
through them, and the action of the batten withitsnttendant 
lay-cap and reeds, are similar to the like parts and motioDB is 
commoii looms, with this exception, that the warp from 
which each individual riband is formed paisses through ti^ 
dents of a distinct reed. 

The course by which the woven ribands are carried away 
is through rollers in the rail, which stands in the sitnation 
usually occupied by the breastHroU in fiont of the weaver, 
lli^^e the riband pass diagonally tp other rollers in the 
bottom rail of the back framing of the loom, and rising per- 
pendicularly, they are carried again through pulle^rs near the 
top to other adjacent pulleys furnished widi weights, and 
tfa^nce over the top rails of the framing to bobbins placed in 
the front of the loom, over the head of the weaver, who, from 
time to time, as already mentioned, winds up thereon the 
finished riband. 

The engine loom is' chiefly used in Coventry, which has 
long been the principal seat of the riband manu^ture of 
England ; giving employment to beyond 10,000 loom^ of 
which about one third only are what are called single looms, 
that is, constructed for the weaving of one breadth only. 
- These last are mostly employed in the manufacturing of 
fibred ribands, while the engine looms are generally occu- 
pied with plain goods. 

The Coventry weavers have made sp very marked an iffl- 



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in. 



PLAIN WEAVING. 



191 



provement in tiieir art since the legalized importation of for- 
ei^ manu&ctured silks, that one of the most eminent manu- 
&cturer8 of that city has declared, that he should, at this day, 
Uush for the work which even his best hands used formerly 
to furnish ; that now their patterns and productions are fully 
equal to those of their foreign rivals, and qualified to come in 
successful competition with the most beautiful ribands wrought 
by the Lyonnese weavers. 

Ribands are frequently ornamented by having what is call- 
ed a pearl-edge given to them. This is formed by causing 
portions of the shoot to project beyond the edges of the rib- 
and, and the extent of these projections^ is so governed as 
that they shall assume a symmetncal appearance, according 
to the particular form required, whether as Vandykes,, or scal- 
lops, of an^^ other figures. This pleasing effeet is produced 
by employing supplementally to the warp-threads, and out- 
■ide each ed^, a certain number of horse-hairs, which paas 
through maus in the harness in the same manner ad the 
warp-threads, but which hairs will be drawn out of the rib- 
and by the act of its being wound on the roller. The horse- 
hairs are so connected with the machinery of the loom as to 
be raised in the succession i»oper fi>r forming the pattern re>- 
quired. ^ 

The following diagram exhibits the mode of forming the 
■implest sort of pearl-edge; 

The lines a a represent the edgfes.of the riband ; 6 & the 
shoot, and the figtu*es 2, 4, 6, 8, signify liie number of hairs 

Fig. 14. 




which have been included in the several threads of the shoot 
to which the numbers are attached, in order to form the 
pearl-edge. It will be seen that, by varymg the order of 
succession used for raising the horse^hairs, the form of the 
edge will be determined in the particular manner that is de- 
sired. 
The comm(Aer sorts of ribands are composed altogether. 



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19S 8ILK XAlOrFACTUBE. PABT HU 

both warp and Bhoot, of Bengal silk. Those i# better <^ 
are mannikctured with a murtnre of Italian and Bengal BtUT; 
and the finest descriptiona are made ci Italian silk without 
any mixture. Riband is woven in piece8» each of which 
I thirtj-aix yanLa 



.1 



CHAP. IV. 

ROUBB WCAVniO. 

iamsCiMnr Lawf.'-Antiqaity of ornamental Weaviiif .— ScrSpea.— Cbeefca 
^-Cbaoges of Colora.— Twills.— Draw-loom.— Draw-oojr.—Jacquard Ma* 
chine.- Princi|rie and Mode of its Action.— Card-slips.— Advantages of 
the Ma^ne.— Jennings's Improvement.— Obstacles to its otlgiaal ntXD- 
dttctioB in Lyons.— Superiority of Wrench Patterns. 

,Ths proeeiBes hitherto described are competent only to 
the manufacture of plain goods; and althoogh, speaking 
strictly, all that is absolutely necessary to the wants of civ- 
flized man, in respeqt of the art 6£ weaving, is accomplished 
when ikbrics of this description are produced, yet fiishion 
and the love of variety have always, except in the veiy 
rudest conditions of society, occasioned tiie more ornamental 
and fiinciful productions to be viewed with admiration and 
adopted with eagerness. 

The cynic may sneer at the vanity which deeks to adc^n 
the human frame in varieties of colors, combined into forms 
and patterns of still greater variety. But it would be diffi- 
cult to show that the powers of invention, and the ingenuity 
which this vanity has called into existence, have not been 
beneficiallj^ exerted in providing employment for thousands 
of industrious artisans^ in rescuing tens, of thousands fitxn 
the miseries of liopeless indi|[ence, and by exercising, in w 
rious ways, the mental foculties of our species. 

The growincf intellig^ice of mankind has l<mg since led 
them to discara all sumptuary laws* as useless, if not hurtfbl, 
to communities, whether they are considered morally or po- 
litically. The desire of obtaining that which may entitle os, 

increased " 



in the opinion of our associaiBih to an increased degree cC 
W(M*ldly consideration, is a most powerful incentive to the vir- 
tues of industry and finigalky; qualities which tend mort im- 
portantly to the general advaneenient of society^ but whidi 
are altogether wanting during ils ruder stagea 

It has been well ^id by a celelmited ^lilosopher, ^iriioss 
profound investiga^ans hav9 boeB greatly instrumental ia 
correcting many mistaken notions upon the science of ^t- 



Digitized by Vj005^1C 



CHAP.it* nOUBK WEAVING. 1&8 

enuaeitLtf which had long been estabiyied and held as incon- 
IroTertible axioms, that " the natural efibrt of erery individ-* 
ual to better his own condition, when suffered to exert itself 
with freedom and sincerity, is so powerfiil a principle, that it 
is alone, and without any assistance, not only capable of car- 
rying on the sqciet}r to wealth and prwsperitjr, but of sur- 
mounting a hundred impertinent obstructions with which the 
fi>Uy of human laws too often encumbers its operations ; 
though the effect of these obstructions is always, more or less, 
either to encroach upon its freedom, or to diminish its se- 
curity."* 

It would prove a curious subject of inquiry, to follow out, 
to their ultimate consequences, and ^hrough all their ramifi- 
cations, the efiects resulting to socie;ty from the introduction 
of new luxuries. To ascertain the degree wherein the indul- 
g^ice, by the wealthy, of wants call^ into existence by the 
very means aflinrded mr their gratification, brings other enjoy- 
ments within the reach of a }arger number, by reason of the 
new demand for industrious labor thus created ; and to learn 
bow a still larger class are, through the spirit 6f emulation, 
rendered so diesirous of acquiring an equal participation in 
comforts enjoyed by their former equaled as to giye an effec- 
tual spur to their industry and ingenuity. Luxuries, when 
they have been long enjoyed, become, in a manner, necessary 
to our happiness; to be without them, while others are not 
so deprived, is to feel ourselves lowered in the scale of so- 
ciety, a degradation to which but few individuals would will- 
ingly submit, while the means of avoiding it continue within 
their reach. 

To imagine that communities, after' once acquiring a relish 
for luxuries, can ever fall back to the primitive usages of so- 
ciety, is to conceive what never has occurred, and mat, while 
the human mind remains constituted as it-ever has been, 
never will be experienced. The natural wishes of every 
man are placed upon the acquirement of something more 
and better than that which he at pr^ent enjoys; and society 
is thus led, by the concurring eibrts of each of its individual 
members, progressively and steadily onward. Legislative or 
^vemmental interference may, indeed, retard tTO march of 
nnprovement, but can no more stop its course when it is once 
ia action than it can stay the motion of the planets. 

Figure-weaving is ^e art o^ producing various patterns in 

* Inquiry into the Natiire nnd CaaiM of ttit WMlth of KaHom, bf 
Smitb. TOl. H. p. 365. 



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194 SILK XAmrFACTTTBS^ PAST IW 

the cloth, either by the mtroduction of threeds of various 
colors, (NT by a difibrent arraaffement of the threads, or hf 
QsiiiF, in the same fkbrie, threMs of difierent 8ubBtaiice& 

This interesting art is of ven^ andent invention, and ap- 
pears to have been practised by we Egvptiajis at a' very early 
period. Herodotus^speaks of % curious bMstHplsfle ot cuinaB^ 
covered with linen, which was sent by king Amasis to the 
Lacedemonians, and which was highly ornamented with nu- 
merous fiffures of animals woven into its texture. The his- 
torian ad£, that each of its apparently slender threads was 
actuallv composed of three hundred filaments, which, under 
a careiul examination, were all distinctlv visible. 

The improvements recently introduced into this ornamental 
branch of the art have been many and important ; but pre- 
vious to giving any description of these improvements, it mav 
be as well to exfdain, generally, the more simple, although 
more laborious and less perfect, means, whereby the weaver 
was formerly enabled to produce the requisite varieties <^ 
form and color from his loom. 

Stripes which occur throughout the length of the piece 
are the eflect of using threads of different cofors or siAstances 
in the warp alone, and do not entail any ^additional labor 
upon the weaver. Stripes which run across the piece, or in 
the direction of the shoot, are caused by umng dinerent shut- 
tles, furnished with threads of the requisite colors and sub- 
stances for the formation of the shoot The onlv additional 
labor thus occasioned to the weaver is that of changing his 
•buttle at certain intervals. A combination of these two 
methods will, it must be evident, produce a checkered pat- 
tern, and thus a very great variety of rectilinear patterns may 
be obtained. 

To call forth figures, flowers, or patterns of any other kind, 
different means are necessary^ Bv dividing the warp be* 
tween several leaves of heddles, which can be depressed at 

eeasure by separate treadles, threads of difierent colors may 
) either* concealed or brought forward upon the face of w 
goods, at the pleasure of the weaver. These threads may be 
made to diange places one with the other, so as to reveal or 
conceal each in such a way as to make out l^e particolsr 
pattern intended. 

Where threads of difierent colors or substances are em- 
ployed in forming the daoot, the shuttles containing such di^ 
ferent threads must be substituted as often as is required hf 

♦ Lib. iii. c. 47. 



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^ICFVRE WEAVING. 



195 



CHAP. IV. 

the contemplttted change of pattern. To efibct this suhstitu^ 
tion with but little trouble or loss of time to the weaver, a 
very simple but effectual contrivatice is used. 

One of the troughs connected with the shuttle-race must 
be made in two parts, thus :-^ 





The bos;, here shown, forming part of the trough in which 
tiie shuttle is placed between the warp and the pecker or 
driver, can be Easily exchange^ for another box, fiirnished 
with a different shuttle, havm^ wound in it a thread of the 
kind wanted. In order to fecilitate this exchange of the 
shuttles, the movable part of the trough is suspended from a 
centre of motion, as at 6; by swinging, therefore, the box a 
on its centre, any one of its divisions may be brought oppo- 
site to the driver, so as exactly to coincid.e with it, and to 
form part of the same trough in continuation of the shuttle- 
race. The upright bar of the shuttle-box a works, as is seen, 
«pon a curved arm c, which is furnished with pe^s or catches 
to confine the bar in the precise position which it should oc- 
cupy. If more than three different colored threads are 
wanted to form the shoot, there may then be two movable 
1x>xes for the shuttles ; one being placed at each end of the 
;ghuttle-race. 

Tweejed or twilled cloth is a description of figure weaving 
depending upon peculiar arrangements of the threads that 
compose the warp and shoot These arrangements mav be 
almost infinitely varied and complicated, bo that it would be 
difiicult to convey a clear or adequate description of ever/ 
variety ; nor, indeed, would it be useful in a work like this to 
do so. It is, however, easy to communicate an idea of the 
inrinciple that enters into and governs this metjiod of weay- 



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196 8ILK MANUFACfURlt. PAST IU« 

ft which will he at once understood hf eonsuking the two 
-iwing diagrams. 

Fig, 16. 



A represents in section, hut greatly^ magnified for the pur- 
pose of clearness, a piece of cloth woven in the simplest 
manner. The circles ar^ intended to represent the section 
of the warp, and the waved line which passes alternately 
albove and helow each following thread of the warp is the 
weft or shoot : this on its return is, by the altered portion of 
the threads of the warp» made to pass beneath those threads 
which it had before passed over, and over those under which 
it had been previously directed. 

Fig. 17. 

J 

B represents, also in section, a piece of twilled dothf 
where the waved line or shoot is seen to pass over four 
threads, and under one thread of the warp; while it is mani- 
fest that by the alternation of the heddles tiie shoot, with the 
return stroke of the shuttle, will pass under four threads and 
over one thread of the warp. It must not be understood, 
that in weaving twilled fabrics the shoot invariably passes 
under or over four threads before interlacing with the warp, 
or that it then interlaces with only one thr^ ; the number 
of threads so passed over may be two, three, four, five, or 
more, in fiict, any number greater than one, although seldom 
fewer than three ; and the interlacing may be with two or 
more threads, according to the pattern which it is desired to 
produce, and which of course will vary according as the 
number of threads passed over or interlaced is greater or 
less. All the intersecting points where the threads of the 
warp and shoot cross or interweave are more marked to the 
eye from the circumstance of both threads being seen to- 
gether. These points take the form of diagonal lines, &^ 
tending narallel to each other, across the face of the cloth, 
and the degree of obliquity will vary according to the num- 
ber of warp threads passed over without interlacing with the 
^oot In twills of the coaTsest fabric the shoot is interwoven 
with evei^ third thread of the warp ; and in proportion as 
the materials wrought are finer, longer intervals are a]lowed| 



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CflAP. IV. FIGURE WEAVING* 197 

until, in some of the finest silks, the interlacing takes place 
only with each sixteenth thread. 

All the varieties of twilling depend upon the mounting or 
working of the difibrent leaves of heddles, or the harness of 
the loom : these, by their multiplication and by their connex- 
ion with a greater number of treadles, which can be made to 
work in di&rent orders of succession, vary the arrangements 
for separating the threads of the warp in forming tne sh^, 
thus, according to the weaver's phrase, augmenting the num- 
ber of leases in the harness. 

In forming patterns where the variety is extensive, the 
number of treadles that would - be nesessary to accomplish 
this mode of weaving would be so great, that one man could 
not possibly manage them with his two feet By placing 
one of tiiese inadvertently upon a wrong treadle, the un& 
formity of the work would be interrupt^, and the pattern 
disfigured ; and it could not be expected that, while urging 
forward his work with the celerity necessary for the ade- 
quate support of his family, any man could so bestow his at^* 
tention upon every part of his operations as to insure the ab- 
sence of all errors of this description. . 

The regularity and precision which are necessary in pro- 
ducing fiuiciful patterns of great variety require, therefore, a 
difierent description of loom. ZTo meet this necessity, the 
apparatus called a draw-loom was invented : bv means of this 
the most comprehensive patterns were produced; and in 
using it the weaver was absolved from all extra attention, 
having only to apply his feet, as in the commonest kind of 
weaving, to two treadles alternately. The working of a 
draw-loom formerly required the constant attention of two 
persons, one of whom was employed to raise the heddles in 
their requisite order ofsuccession, by pulling strings attached 
to the various leaves respectively, while me other carried 
forward the operation of luctual weaving; but during the 
year 1807 a most valuable mvention was brought into use 
and substituted for the second person employed. The saving 
of labor resulting from the use of this ajpparatus comprised, 
perhaps, the least part of its advantages, since it removed, by 
the unerring certamty of its operation, all possible chance of 
miatake in pulling a wrong strihg, whioh, while the office 
was performed by human huids, could not but sometimes oc- 
cur. The apparatus, when once properly set uo, itself pro- 
vided for all t^e operations and changes re^uirea. 

This machine, which, from its standing lo the stead of » 
R2 



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198 ULK MAmJFACTtJBB. PABT tXt* 

person who waa distinguished by that name, is called a draw* 
boy, will be now described. 

This machine was fixed to the side of the loom in the 
place where the assistant weaver formerly used to stand. 

It consists of a square axis made of wood, and so momitod 
•8 to turn backwards and forwards in the frame on centres 
of motion. A pulley is fixed at one end of the firame, hai^ng 
a. line fastened to it at its highest point. The axis is put in 
motion by means of this line, each end of which is Connected 
with one of the treadles of tJie loom. Two wooden rails m 
■helves are fixed across the frame parallel to the axi% to 
which two brass plates are screwed, and pierced witli a gretlt 
number of holes to receive as many cords. A central nS ii 
placed beneath the reciprocating axis, and to this raO art 
ftstened cords, which, peissing through the perforations of the 
piates are turned over rounded rods, and kept extended l^ 
weights : the rods are sumended by cords at each end fiom 
the ceiling of the room. To each of the cords which pass 
iitMn the central rail, throue^h the brass plates, and just be^ 
fere they are turned over tbe rods, another cord is attached. 
The latter cords hang loosely, their upper ends being con- 
nected with lines extending horizontally across the ceiling 
of the room, to which they are fastened by one end, while 
the t>ther end of each passes over a pulley placed at the top 
ci the loom ; and the leaves of heddles or harness or^ all 
suroended by lines thus conducted. 

It will now be seen, that when any one of the cords fkstenr 
ed to the central rail is pulled down, it must draw one of thQ 
latter cords, and act upon that part of the harness which if 
connected with it: one of the weights keeps the cord at itq 
proper degree of tension. It may be easily understood, that 
the harness being arranged in such succession as is require^ 
to raise and depress the leaved of heddles in a manner which 
will produce those various situations oT the warp which ar^ 
necessary to the production of the requbed pattern, it only 
remains to provide for the regular and successive drawing </ 
the cords as they are mounted in the draw*-boy. This is the 
business of the machine, and is accom{^ished in the following 
manner: — 

The axis has fixed to it a semicircle, grooved in its peri- 
I^ery like a pulley, and with botii its ends divided so us to 
fi>rm a clefl hook or claw. Each ci the strings made fkst to 
the central rail has a large knot made in it, a little below 
the pcnnt where it pas»es through the brass plate ; and when 
the axis is made to vibrate to wad &o by me actioi of th« 



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GHAI^. IV. Fldims U'XAVIKO, 190 

treadles, as before mentioned, one of the hodka of the semi- 
circle seizes upon one of these knots, and drawing down the 
cord, raises the heddles connected with it 

It must be remembered, that by the connexions made be- 
tween the various leaves of heddles, the raising of any one of 
the leaves must occasion the depression of all the others. 

The buttle being then thrown, the other treadle is in its 
torn depressed : the axis, with the semicircle, in its return 
back, tdlows the cord to disengage itself from the cleft hook, 
and to take its original position ; the semicircle then inclining 
over to the other side, its other cleft hook lays hold of the 
knot made in the cord next in advance of the one opposite to 
that just released ; draws it down ; the slinttle is again 
thrown; and so on in regular succession, each claw in its 
turn seizing upon the cord next beyond the one directly op- 
posite to that just drawn. The means whereby it is provided 
that the claws shall take in succession only the alternate 
cords passing through the brass plates, are by two racks, 
which are let into grooves in the axis, and have teeth like 
saws, but the teeth on one rack are inclined in a contrary 
direction to those of the other. These racks are caused to 
move backMrard and -forward in their grooves to the extent of 
fiUOe tooth at each vibratory movement of the axis, by the ac- 
lion of two circular inclined planes of iron lEastened to the 
frame, against which the ends of the racks are thrown by 
means of spiral springs concealed beneath each rack. The 
semicircle is fixed on a box or carriage, which slides upon the 
axis, and has two clicks upon it ; one of which ftdls into the 
teeth of one rack, the other into the tieeth of the second rack: 
jfi follet is fixed over the box, and connected with the two 
flicks, by threads wound in opposite directions, so that one 
«lick is always raised Up and disengaged while the other is 
In acti(Ni. A piece of wire is fixed to the frame in such a 
manner as to intercept another small wire projecting firom 
the roller when the axis is inclmed, and to turn the roller a 
ibort distance': another Wire, intended for the same purpose^ 
is fixed to a movable cross bar which can be listened as re- 
quired ^t either a greater or lesser distance from the end 
of the axis. If the roller be in such a position that one 
click is down while the other is drawn up, the direction 
^ven to the semicircle draws down one string ; during this 
motion* the end of the rack comes to the inclined part^ of the 
circular inclined plane, and is moved on by its spring the 
space of one tooth, which advance is mamtamed by the click 
in fidling into the tooth. On its return the axis thrusts back 



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200 SILK XANUf^AOTVHB. TABft TEU 

the rack, together with the sliding box and semkiicle^ caoe- 
ing the claw to catch the next opposite string ; and in thm 
manner the semicircle proceeds, advancing one string with 
each vibration, until it reaches the end of its course. The 
tail of the roller tiien strikes against a pin fixed in the mam 
ble cross bar, the roller is tamed over, one click is raised^ 
and the other click is brought into action upon the rack. Bj 
this means the semicircle is moved back one tooth for eui. 
vibration, until the wire projecting from the roll^ meets a 
wire projecting from the mime, by means of which it is upset; 
the click again comes into play, and the semicircle is by these 
means kept constantly advancing and receding with the most 
perfect regularity. 

The machine which has just been described was not in all 
respects the same as the first mechanical draw-boy that was 
employed, upon which it formed a considerable improvement, 
by rendering it unnecessary for the weaver to quit hia labor 
at the loom and reset it, whenever the semicircle had conn 
geted its progression fix>m one end of the fimne to the other. 
This improvement was the contrivance of a Mr. DufiT; it ex- 
hibits great ingenuity, and the apparatus proved emincantfy 
useful, althou^ liable to one ver^ serious objection. The 
weight of the harness and the friction of the machine being 
considerable, it was necessary to adjust accordingly the range 
.of the treadles which gave it motion: and in order not to 
oppress the weaVer with the weight, it was requisite that he 
should depress each treadle to the extent often inches. The 
exertion of raising his feet so high, and in such quick i^c- 
cession as was needed, proved exceedingly &tigaing, and 
even afibcted injuriously the bodily health of the weaver. 
To remedy this evil, an engine maker, named Jones, fixed on 
the axis of the driving wheel or pulley two cranks, each 
being about two thirds of the length of the radius of the 
wheel But it was found, as indeed might have been ex- 
pected, that this arrangement increased the load and friction 
so disproportionally to the advantage that, was gained bf 
shortening the treiul, as to render it hardly availabte in prac- 
tice. It was, perhaps, a rather better ccntrivance when a 
weaver named Hughes, substituted for the above mentuteed 
cranks a small grooved wheel, which he fixed on the axis of 
the driving wheel, and connected it with' the treadles bv 
means of cords passing over pulleys; but the evil, although 
diminished by this means, was not removed. In the years 
1^0 and 1821, another ingenious silk weaver, named Kicb- 
jgrdB, made a. farther and efi^tual improvement, by attaching 



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C«iJP. IV. FIOUXJS WEAVING. 20t 

to the proloBged axis of tht machine an arm, carrying a 
leaden weight of su^h magnitude as would counterbalance 
the weight of the harness. 

The apparatus, thus improved, continued for a long time 
to prove of great usefulness in figure weaviuj^. It detracts 
nouiii^ from the merit of the inventor and unprovers of a 
machine which removed so many of the ^disadvantages at- 
iwidant upon the ftystem of figure weaving, as then usually 
practised, that anc^er and a hotter system has since been 
imported firom a. neighboring country, which has occasioned 
the laying aside of the draw-loom and its attendant draw-boy, 
for the production of figured silk goods. 

The contrivance whereby this new system has been accom- 
plished is the invention of M. Jacquard, who was a practical 
weaver of Lyons. Bearing his name, it will probably prove 
a lasting record of his mechanical talent, and will secure for 
Ids menoory that fair harvest of fiime, which, unhappily, he 
has not lived to reajK havin? fallen an early victim to the in- 
tensity of his mentsQ appli&tion. 

Ld the course of the ver}[ few vears which have elapsed 
since its first introduction into this country, the Jacquard 
loom has entirely taken the place of every other method of 
figured silk weaving, and has been, in no small degree, in- 
strumental in bringing that curious and beautifttl art to its - 
present state of advancement. The elaborate specimens of 
brocade which used to be brought forward as evidence of 
skilfulness on the part of the Spitalfields weavers of former 
days were {Mroduced by only the most skilful among the craft, 
who bestowed upon their performances the most painful 
amount of labor. The most beautiful products of the loom in 
the present day are, however, accomplished by men possess- 
ing only the onlinary rate of skill, while the labor attendant 
upon the actual weaving is but little more than that demand- 
ed for making the plainest goods. The carefulness and skill 
now required in preparing the various arrangements of the 
harness in the loom, or, to use the technical pnrase, in build- 
ing the monturey are out of all proportion less than were 
called for before the introduction of Monsieur Jacquard's in- 
vention, the principle and operation of which Will appear fix>m 
the following drawings and description.* 

The apparatus is &ed on the top of the loom, in a perpen- 



♦ The drawings inserted for tire elucidation of the Jacquard machine ara 
merely outlines ; a mode of delineation which is necessary, in order to 
rander apparent its internal construction and action, which are oontealed 
In tlM actiiAl machine by the framing jwherein the apparatus is contained. 



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9D3 sojc MANTTFACfnntiB. tJ^f^ ni« 

dicular line with its faarmeas, wkich is attached to the Uftiof 
books a «. These hooks are passed pCTpendirittoly thioi^ 
eyes in an equal number of horizontal needles b c, which Im 
in rows in the frame d d. Of these lifting hooks and nee^es^ 
only eight are shown in the drawings, in order to sinqdify the 
description ; whereas, in the actual machine, there are as 
many as 400 cS each, or fifty in each one <^ the eight rows, 
fonning as many leases or lashes in the warp. The horizon- 
tal neoiles b c protrude through the frame ddatc, and are 
kept in that position by helical or i^iral springs e e, placed in 

Fig. IB. 




cavities in the frame d, and there confined by vertical wires 
f, so that any degree of pressure being applied against the 
points of those needles at c will cause diem to retire into the 
frame d <2, 4md, on the removal of this pressure, the elasticity 
of the qxrings will again drive the needles forward. The 
ran^e allow^ for this horizontal movement of the needles is 
limited by vertical pins g, passing through loops made in die 
needles, and which stop them at a certain point Close to 
these vertical pins, others are placed horizontally, upon 
which the loops of the needle slide, and by means cf which 
thev are retained in their proper position. One of the needles 
is shown separately, for clearer elucidation. 
Above the frame d d ia aqother fhume A, having iNurs 



* Di9itUed.by Vj.OOQlC. 



CSbJf* ti^ tlGVJSR WBAVIX6. S03 

nmged bc^risoDtally at right angles with th^ needles, and 
, in Bumher equal to the rows of lifting hooks. This frame h 
m alternately raised from or lowered upon the frame dd^hy 
a kirer attached to and acting with the treadle, and the 
l^^rth of the lifting hooks is so adjusted, that wheki the frame 

Fig. 1&. 

e ^ 




k 18 lowered the lifting hars would so insinuate th^nselves 
under the curved ends ci the lifting hooks as to raise them 
when the frame h is again raised. For this purpose, the lift- 
ing bars, which in shape are something like blunted knife 
Uades, hare their broad parts a little inclined out of the per- 
pendictilar, so that their lower edges shall not strike in their 
descent against the curved extremities of the lifting hooks^ 
while, by their continued depression, the flat parts of the bars 
will come in contact with those curves, and force the hooks 
somewhat back against the springs. These, at the moment 
they are freed frwn the pressure by the descent of the bars 
below the curves, force the hooks back into the vertical posi- 
tioo, which insures their being su^nded on the lifting bars 
with the upward movement of the frame h. 

It will be observed that half the number of lifting hooks 
•le attached lio the lifting bars, while the other half remain 
disconnected with them ; this has been efleeted by the forcing 
bac^ of tfie needles, through the eyes of which those liftinfi^ 
hoolBB are passed, and which, by that act, are thrown out of 
their perpendicular, and are thus carried out of the range of 
the Mfting hooks. All, therefore, that is further wanting to 
govern the raising and depressing of the different portions of 
the war]» is a system for managing the retirement of the 
proper needles within the frame d a, and, consequently, for 
Bifluencing the takii^ up of the proper heddles by means of 
the horizontal lifting bare. 

This system of management is efieeted by the agency of a 




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1 



204 



9tLK KANVFACnmS. 



wxarm* 



aqoare revolving bar, and a BucceflBion cf peribr at ed cudi 
or slips, which are carried round with its revolntionfl. 

The revolving bar is perforated on each of its ftmr sideiH 
with holes, answering, in number and position, to the p(Hnti 
of the needles at c ; and one or other of these sides is broofffat 
into contact with that same part of the frame <2, at each de^ 
pression of the treadle. 

In the absence of the cards or slips, the points of all the 
horizontal needles b c would enter into the perforaUons of the 
revolving bar, and every one of the lifting hooks would be 
taken up on the lifting bars ; whence the dSSice of the cards 
becomes apparent These are partially perforated, in such a 
manner as to make out the intended pattern by means of the 
partial influence they are made to exert in causing the re- 
tirement of the hcnrizontal needlea It will be seen, by refer- 
ence to the cards or slips, that thdr perforati<H)s are not so 
numerous as those on tne sides of the Tev<dving bar, and that 

^.21. 



O OAO CO 



Le 6o 



ccoe eooo 
ee oeeeo 



ro p pa 

eo o o« 
ooo o 
«oo oo 



f 90 •• O OOOAOttOO CCOO 

or. oo oo c* o Oft oo 

. o e -e Qooe or oo osa 

feoQOfc ••ooco o eoooo*** 




o o oce 

soeooo ooo oo « 

c r c cc o o ooo 



these holes occur at irregular positions. If, then, one of 
these slips of card be made to cover the side of the revolving 
bar which is opposed to the points of the needles, such of the 
latter as do not coincide with the perforations made on the 
slip will be driven back against their helical springs. Their 
lifting hooks will, consequently, be carried beyond the ran^ 
of the lifting bars ; while all those needles which find coin- 
ciding perforations in the card slip will pass through it into 
the perforations of the revolving bar ; their lifting hooks wOl, 
on the depression of the frame h^ be engaffed by the liftior 
bars ; and those portions of the harness which are connected 
with them will be drawn up. 

The perforations in the sups are so placed as to occasion 
that succession in the raising of the harness which will make 
out the intended pattern. For this purpose it is necessary to 
have as many cards or slips as there are required threads of 
shoot to make out or complete the pattern ; this number of 
cards, where the pattern is large, or of great variety, is very 
considerable. The whole of them are rastened together }ff 
threads at their extreme ends or c<Nmers, in the manner 
shown in the drawing ; and they thus form a kind of endleat 



' "DigitTz^d ny VjOOQIC^> .' 



CSOAP* IV* 



noVHB WXAVING. 



ehain, one complete.revolution of which makes out the pat- 
tern, which the continued working of the loom repeats to the 
^d of the waip. 

The revolutions of the card slips with the revolving bar, 
and the precision with which they must take their position 
upon it, so as to cause the coincidence of th^ir perforations, is 
provided for by conical studs i i upon the revolving bar, upon 
which studs the slips adjust themselves by means of the 
larger perfi>rations J^' made in them for that purpose. 




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206 SJUL MAinJFACTURE. PA«T HI* 

The puDohing of these card slips for the compositioii of 
different patterns is a distinct and separate business fropi 
that of the weaver, to whom the cards are given oat, to- 
gether with the silk to be woven, by the nutster manofiLc- 
turer. A sort of propertv in the pattern is thus retained by 
the master, which, should it become a favorite with the pob- 
licjproves to him an affiiir o£ some considerable advantage.* 

The regular and successive xevolutionQ of the 8%uafe in- 
volving bar are thus managed. 

The bar A; must be hung by its end pivots T in a &ame nif 
which is so jointed above as to swing from and to the ^e ef 
the frame d with an unvarying motion. The bar, which has 
been shown separately, wHl l^ seen to have at one end four 
pillars nop and 9, into which the hook r catches in succes' 
sion, so as to cause the bar to make one fourth of a revolatioD^ 
The precision of this movement is also guarded by a bar, 
shaped like the letter T reversed, s s t, which is pressed on 
the two upper pillars of the revolving bar by the action of » 
spring. The nrame m is swung from t^e frame d by ther 
roller u, which, being attached to the frame A, rises with it, 
and works in the hook-shaped bar v attached to the frame m, 
causing the latter to swing on its uppper joint ; and by the 
same means the depression of the frame h must again draw 
the frame fn to the position it had quitted against the frame «L 

The catching of the hook r in the pillar n permits the 
swinging, of the frame m only through the turning of the re- 
volving bar, the outer vertical side of which is thus made to 
take a horizontal position in the upper part of the frame m. 
By its return against the frame d^ another of the pillars, o, » 
brought within the hook r, and secured in readiness for the 
next swinging movement of m. The revolving bar is tha» 
seen to have both a vibratory and a revolving motion ; the 
first occasioned by the swingmg of the frame m, to whieh it 
is connected on its pivots, and 3ie seccmd by the restraining 
action of the hook r. 

The cord id a? so connects the two opposite aiid similar 
hooks r and y, that the drawmg of this cord upward will 
throw the hook r out of aeticni, and cause the succesmve 
catching of the pUlars nop and q by the hook tf instead, 
when the motion of the revolving bar will necessarily be re- 
versed, l^is provision is made inr order to enable the 
weaver to repair anv accident that may occur, through the 
probal^e breeJdng of the warp threads, or the possible disar- 
raogement of tibe harness. The movement of the card Blip» 

* Note 66. 






CHAP. IV. FI6VRE t^TEAVING. 207 

beii^ of course reversed by this means, the weaver tries 
back his work sufficiently to accomplish his purpose; and 
then, by pulling down the cord to x, the lower hook is re- 
leased, and the upper one is again engaged, so that the re- 
vcdviog bar and the card slips once more proceed in the fcnr- 
warddirection, and the weaving again advances. 

The lin€» uwnbered 1, 2, 3, &c. represent the card slips 
and their situations during the working of the loom. The 
junction of the dip numbered 175 to that numbered 1 shows 
iow, by the repeated succession of all the cards, the endless 
repetitions of the pattern are ;»Qoduced in the manufacture.- 

it will be observed, that the card slips are so perforated, 
that, in addition to the blank spaces necessary to make out 
the particular pattern required, they likewise oppose blanks, 
alt^nately, through their whole extent, to each intermediate 
row <rf needles in the frame d. If the card No. 1. entirely 
covers the first, third, fifth, and seventh rows (rf" perforations in 
the revolving bar, the card No. 2. will, in like manner, cover 
the second,fourth, sixth, and eighth rows ; by which means the 
requisite succession of the harness is uniformly preserved. 

Availing himself of this necessity for covering the alter- 
aate rows of perforations, Mr. J. Hughes, of Bethnal Green, 
has in^niottsly proposed to employ Sie same set of card diips 
in producing two diirtinet patterns, by umng their intermediate 
Uank spaces, and causing the requisite succession of the 
harness 1^ means of other cards, perforated accordingly, and 
which are fixed, with that view, on the difierent faces of the 
revolving bar, so that the first and third faces have their first, 
third, firai, and seventh perforations covered, vdnle the sec- 
ond and fourth feces have their other four alternate rows 
concealed : these fixed cards thus become substitutes for the 
intermediate blank spaces (m the revolving card slips, and 
Bome part of the expense and labor coimected with the sec- 
(Hid pattern are saved. 

The Jacquard loom haa proved so beneficial to the weaver, 
by simplifying the most difficult portion of his labor, and ly 
so imjXNTtantiy eeonomizing his time in the preliminary, and, 
to him, profitless preparation of his lodm, that he complains 
not of the exertion for which it calls in depressing the 
tr^le atad lever, although this exertion must needs be very 
considerable, firom the firiction of its parjs, the resistance of 
BO many springs, and the raising of the numerous w^^*J> 
by the reaction of which the harness of the loom is depressed. 
It is some time, however, ere the weaver who adopts the 
f^ of this Beallj beautifiil apparatus becomes sufficicnUy far 



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70S «ILK KAlfUFACTUBK. PAST HI. 

Biiliar with its arrangements ta carry forward his lahor with 
a satisfiictory degree of celerity ; but when this is ooce ac- 
complished, the com£>rt whadi he derives from those ar- 
rangements aflbrds ample amends for the cares of his no* 
▼iciate ; and there are not any by whom, under such circum- 
stances, it would willingly be abandoned. 

The Jacquar d apparatus is provided by the master manu- 
fibcturer, and continues, of course, equally with the card slips, 
to be his prcmrty ; an arrangement rendered necessacry by 
the poverty of the weavers, scarcely one of whom could fur- 
nish the means for providing the machine. 

£ach set of cards, when it is removed from the loom to 
make room for another set with a different pattern, is care- 
fully tied up, and, as a distinctive label, the bundle has atp 
tached to it a portion of the fidyric which has been woven, so 
that the manufacturer may know, at a glance, what set of 
cards to employ for the production of any one of his partieo- 
larpattems! 

The general introduction of this apparatus was impeded 
for some time, awing to. the great height wliich was required 
in the apartment destined for its erection. Within the last 
twelve months, an improvement has been efiected, whieh 
renders the invention more extensively available, by admit- 
ting^ of its erection in apartments not beyond the (urdinary 
height of chambers inhabited hy silk weavers. This improve- 
ment wB»biouirht under the notice of the Socie^ for the En- 
couragement of Arts, Manufoctures, and Ckimmerce, and wis, 
on tht^ occasion, deemed deserving of reward both pecuniaiy 
and honorary. This society has always been alive to the 
great importance of the silk manu&cture to this country, and 
has done more for the encouragement of in^nious artisans in 
this branch d industry than has been, or^uan could be, e^ 
footed bv the patent laws under the present system; the 
ffreat bulk of the inventcns being in a situation of lifo which 
deprives them of all means for securing to themselves the 
pnvilegjes of a patent 

To give an intelligible account of the alteration thus ef- 
focted« it is'necessai^ to explain, that the cords whereby the 
leaden weights, which are called lingos, are attached to the 
harness, are each led through a hole in a board in front <^aod 
9omewhat lower than the breast-roll of the loom : this is call- 
jsd a comber-board ; and its numerous holes are so disposed 
in lines, that the rows which cross the loom comprise a 
greater number of holes than the rows which run in the di- 
rection '<^ its length. On the other hand, the rows of lifting 



1 

n. 1 



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CHAP. IT. FIGtJRfi WEAVING. 209 

hooks Contained in the apparatus above are in the ^rreatest 
number in this last-mentioned direction. In attachmg the 
harness to the lifting hooks, it had been usual to connect 
each cord with that individual hook which would have stood 
in the most natural relation to it, provided the comber-board 
and lifting hooks had stood in the same direction; but as 
they do not so stand, it is evident that this disposition of the 
cords must occasion a twisting of themlunong each other; 
and hence arose tha necessity for carrying them through a 
wider range of space, that the chances oi entanglement or 
eonfusion might be diminished. This mode of connecting 
the harness with the lifting hooks is called " the Loiidon tie. 
The improvement consists in connecting each cord with the 
individual hook which stands in the most natural relation to 
it in the actual position of the difi^rent parts : this is called 
** the Norwich tie ;" and by reason of its diminishing the 
chances of entanglement among the numerous cords, makes 
it practicable to confine the harness within a narrower range 
of space. 

Besides the economy of space thiis acquired, it was found 
practicable to diminish, in some degree, the heigfht given to 
the framing of the apparatus; and the combination of these 
two circumstances brought the whole machine, as has been 
before mentioned, within the height of chambers such as are 
commonly inhabited by journeymen weavers. Previously to ^ 
this alteration, it had been by no means uncommon to cut ' 
away the ceiling of the apartment in the i^t directly over 
the Jaequard apparatus ; but it is obvious that recourse could 
not always be had to even this bungling expedient 

The &)ciety for the Encouragement of Arts has very re- 
cently given encouragement to another alteration, which ef" 
iects a very desirable simplification of this ingenious inven- 
tion, dispensing altogether with the helical springs which 
serve to push ^rward the needles, and substitutmg cords and 
perforated boards for the lifting hooks and liftmg bars of the 
orijnnal machine. 

This improvement is the contrivance of Mr. William Jen- 
nings, a practical weaver and machine-maker, of Bethnal 
.Green. Th^ means whereby it is attained wUl appear on 
ccmsulting the following diagram : — 

The cords attached to the harness, of which, to avoid con- 
fusion, eight onlv are here ^iven, are fiistened to the top of 
ike fitune aa,bb, which is to be nused by the action <^ the 
treadle and lever. The under board b b of this frame, through 
which the cords pass in their descent, is perforated with toe 
Q2 



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SIO 



•ILK lULirUFACTUBB* 
Fig. 2^ 



FASTin* 



J\\ 


' \, 


^ — fni- 




•m 


4i= 


f, /^_/ — 

r »_ . 


£^— * 




■ ~ " "" ■•■ J 



requisite number of holes; and in connexion with each one 
of these holes is a small slit, the width of which is narrower 
than the diameter of the hole from which it proceeds. This 
perforated board b b answers the same purpose as the lifting 
bars ; for each of the harness cords having a knot made in 
it in the exact spot to which the lower boani b b of the frame 
will descend with the return stroke of the lever, either these 
knots will, by the protruding of the needles as lit c c, be de- 
tained upon the upper eurmce of bb from their inability to 
pass through the shts, or, by the passing back of the needles, 
tiSfktdd, Uie knots will be made to coincide with the holes 
iabbj tiirough which they are small enough to pass freely. 
The portion of the harness with which they are connected 
will, consequently, sot be raised. Another perforated board, 
• c, is placed b^iieath the horizontal needles, and through 
this the cerds descend to the comber-board //J which is simi- 
kr to the oa&. formerly described : the cords of the harness, 
passing through this, are kept extended by the plummets, or 
lin^^is, at their bottom ends, <ind these perform the office of 
sprmgs in bringing forward the horizontal meedles cc^d^ 
whenever they meet with coinciding perforations in the re- 



d by^Goo^e 



CHAP. IV. FI6UBE WEAVIirO. til 

volving bar ; the Hfting cords then insinuate themselyes be- 
tween the slits, and are raised by means of their knots, as 
before described. 

For clearer elucidation, the board & 6 is here given, with 
its circular holes and slits for the passage or detention of the 
knots. It must be borne in mind, that instead of the small 
number here delineated, this board has 400, and scmietimes 
even a mater number, of holes and slits, but the indication 
of which in so small a space as this diagram would have ren- 
dered it less clear and intelligible. 

Fig,2L 



In the course of the very few ^ears during which the Jao* 
quard machine has been known m Engkmd, it lias been thus 
materially simplified and improved ; while in Lyons, the city 
of its birth, it still remains unaltered, either m form or ar- 
rangement, from the original conception of its first ingenious 
inventor. It has been recorded by the baron Ch. Dupm, that 
Jacquard had to encounter the most bitter annoyances from 
his fellow-citizens, who have been so materially benefited by 
his ingenuity. Several years elapsed before his machinery 
was generally adopted, during which period a thousand ob- 
stacles were offered to its introduction ; a flict which can 
well be credited by all persons who have had opportunities 
for observing with .what pertinacity old forms and practices 
are adhered to by the common-place bulk of every communi- 
ty ; and how great is the disinclination of the operative me- 
chanic to adopt improvements which, with a self-sufficiency 
engendered by the dexterity acquired in following old meth- 
ods, he is pleased to condemn as **new-ikngled nonsense." 

The mode whereby the perforations in the card-slips are 
80 made as to influence the raising- of different portions of the 
warp threads in the order of succession necessary for making 
out the desired pattern, is exceedingly ingenious. 

The pattern— or as it is called, the design — is drawn of a 
■ize much larger than it is intended shaU be given to it in 
the woven ftbric, u})on paper previously divided by lines into 
very small squares, in the manner described in the following 



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212 



SILK MAmXPACTtrRE. 



PART m. 



fi^ie, the cross lines of which represent the intersecting 
threads of the goods. This mode of proceeding has heea 
long fbllowcHi in building the monture oi draw-looms ; that is, 
in preparing them for weaving intricate or extensive pattema 

Fig. 25. 



aaaa 


■■■■■■■■■■■■•■■■ ■•aaaiaaaai "S"""" ■ 


■1 *i 


■■aa aaaaaaaf a aaaaaaf aaa - aaaaa ■ 




■a 




■1 m 




m\ a 


■■ 


■■■ 


s::.. 


■ ; m. 1 




:s: 


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!■■«■■■ ■■! 




aia 


■■ ■■■ 


as aH ■■■■■■■ a 


aaa a 

mam 
aaa 


■ ■'"- as™ja« «... 


a a 




■■ - ■« - a ■■■ ■■■■'. a 




■ ■■ 


a:: .3:;i:r ss:£t;: 


















m 


■■■■■an 




kdidiUkJi 1 



Placing this paper before him, and provided with a frame 
containing a nuinber of vertical threads answering to the 
warp of me goods, sufficient to comprise the width of the de- 
sign, the workman proceeds to read on the design, hj taking 
up with a very long needle such of the threads as are inter- 
sected by the pattern, inserting by its ilieans a cross thread 
under Ihese, and carrying it over all the remaining threads 
in the same line ; repeating this process until he has insert- 
<ed as great a number of shoots as there are of cross lines ocp 
cupied in making out the pattern, and which sometimes 
amount to as many as five hundred shoots. Thus, in &ct, 
transferring the design by a succession of what may be call- 
ed darning stitches firom the ruled paper to the threads in 
his frame, 

T^ facilitate the reading on of the design, every tenth line 
which divides the pattern paper into squares is described in 
a bolder manner than the other lines. When the design is 
extensive, the operation is generally performed by two per- 
sons, one of whom directs what threads are to be raised, 
while the other makes the necessary insertions of the needle. 
In reading on the design here given (Jig, 25.) the beginning 
would be made at the, bottom, and a&the spaces on the paper 
ore. always counted from right to left, the instruction would 
be, " pass thirty and take two/' Part of the flower is d$» 



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CHAP. IV. FI6USB WXAVINO. 218 

scribed in the seoond raw of sqimrea, and the instruction fer 
this would be ** pftss nineteen, take three ; pass eight, take 
two.** The third shoot comprises other parts of the flower, 
and the workman would be told, ^ pass ten, take three ; p^iaa 
Ave, take five ; pass seven, take two ; pass seven, take four ;* < 
and proceeding thus with as many cross shoots as there are of 
transverse lines on the pajler, which in this case cominrises 
only thirty-five, the whole design would be included. 

Whea this is done, the next operation is to attach the 
threads thus interlaced to the card-punching machine. This 
piece o£ mechanism is in every way similar in its principle, 
and nearly identical in its arrangements, with the Jacquard 
machine; being, like it, provided with lifting-cords, and 
wires, and neemes, all connected in the manner already de> 
scribed in this chapter, so that by pulling the lifiing-c(»ds, 
the needles will be protruded. In fi^ont of thea& ne^d^es^ 
and answering to the revolving bar, a perforated plate, abotn^y 
two inches thick, is fixed: each of the perforaticms in Uiis is 
provided with a movable steel punch or cutter ai a cy]|hidi«- - 
cal form, so that tUb protrosian oi any of the neodfeg/iiviU 
drive finrwurd thehr conespcoidin^ punches, and deposit them 
in {mother similarly jf)erfi>rated uron {date, about one inch in 
thickness,' temporarily applied for that purpose against the 
fikce of the plate first described. 

One end of each warp thread in the pattern is then to be 
ecmnected in succession with the individual lifling-cor^s of 
the machine ; and it is evident that if the different thread 
which form the shoot, and which for this purpose are made 
to bang out on each side beyond the selvage of the warp, ar« 
taken separately and in succession by each end and dniwn 
upwards, all the warp threads wherewith each cross thread 
is engaged, will be separated firom the rest, and may be col- 
lected tG^rether in the hand ; by then pulling them, the par- 
ticular lining cords to which they are attach^ will be4rawn, 
their corresponding needles will be protruded, and the cylin- 
drical cutters bf that means driven out of the perforaticms in 
the fixed plate mto the corresponding cavities of the mova^ 
plate. 

The blank card-slip, which is to be perforated, is next ap- 
plied to the fitce of the movable plate, and against the 
points of the punches; and both being then removed to- 
gether, and placed upon a third perforated plate in a press, 
the punches are driven through the card-slip in the requisite 
■poti. The punches being replaced in the machine, a sec- 
ond shoot of the thread pattern drawn up, and its iateriaoed 



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Digitized by VjOOQlC 



214 SILK MAinJFACTimE. PAST IH. 

warp thread pulled as before^ .the pimcheB connected with 
the anawering lifting-cords and needles are in like maimer 
protruded' into the movable plate, and forced throo^ an- 
other blank ourd ; and, by nroceeding in this manner, the 
whole series of card-slips will be unerringly prepared. Hav- 
mg been previouflly numbered, there is no difficulty in atta<^ 
ing them together in their proper order af succession, boles 
for this purpose^ being made by the same action of the preat 
which stamps the perforations for the pattern, punches for 
this purpose being permanently inserted in proper cavities of 
the movuble iron plate. 

A modification of the Jaoquard machine has been intro- 
doeed to use by Mr. Samuel Dean, c^ Ifethnal Green, also 
an operative weaver. In this the card-slips are altogether 
dii^nsed with, by ad<^[»ting the use of two revolving bars 
^aced on opposite sides of the machine. , Each of these bare 
has eight foces, and the loom is actuated by twa treadles. 
The variations of pattern are fNrovided for in the working <^ 
this machine, by temporarily stopping sqch holes in the re* 
volving barsAs will influence the raising c^ those threads <^ 
the warp upon which the production o£ ttie pattern depends. 
It is quite obvious, however, that this modification can only 
be aj^lied to the production of very simple patterns, it being 
capaole of employing no more than sixteen casts of the shut* 
tie for their completion. This altered arrangement is, there- 
fore, of very limited utility, and bears no comparison with 
the truly valuable invention of Jacquard. 

In one branch, and that an essential one, of the interesting 
art of figure weaving, the manufocturers of Lyons enjoy a 
superior reputation to us ; their designs are mare pleasmg, 
more varied, and display a more correct taste than ours can 
boast For this superiority there is a very sufficient reason 
fiiniished, by the establishment existing in that city of ^ the 
School of Arts," which ofiers valuable means for the study 
<^ drawing in all its various branches, and where pattern dor 
signers are >bly instructed in all the best rules of the art 
wnich they cultivate. 

The English have been considered inferior to their conti- 
nental neighbors in the foculty of invention, at lea;3t in this 
particular branch of the fine arts. Without entering into 
the investigation of this question, which might, perhaps, in 
any case, be decided more under the influencjs of national 
partiidity than according to the-&ct, it must be owned that 
the French have adopted systematic means for caHmg forth 
and improving the talent of tasteful invention; \dul0 with 



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CHAP. IV. FIGURE WEAVING. 215 

UB this is left entirely to individaal and unassisted eibrts. Il 
is, besides, probable that the fawr wherewith French pattenn 
are received by the leaders of fashion in this country, tends 
still further to repress the efforts of English artists, as &r as 
<»iginality is concern^ ; since it is found more profitable to 
imitate or to copy patterns, thus recommended to the general 
adoption, than to venture upon producing others, which 
would be without this adventitious value-. 



CHAP. V. 

MECHANICAL, OE P0WBE-W:EAVn«>. 

Crreat Advantages of Machinery in abridging Labor.-^Firat Proposal for t 
Power-Looni.— Dr. Cartwrigbt's Invention. — Causes of its little Success. 
— Parliamentary Rewvrd.— Austin's Power-Loom.— Mode of its Action. 
—Reasons for preferring Hand-weaving for Silken Fabrics.— Hand-Power- 
Looms.— Mr. Sadler's Invention.— Double and Cluadruide Looms. — ^Pro- 
portion wberein tbey are said to abridge Labor. 

The means of substituting medianical power fer the labor 
of the hands in weaving must be classed among the splendid 
offerings madcby genius at the shrine of utility. 

The facihty thus given to the production of gck)d& has al* 
ways excited the apprehensions, and frequentl;^ has promoted 
tiie hostili^, of persons previously employed in their manu- 
&cture. Even among. othSr and better informed classes 
th^re have not been wanting systematic opponents to the in* 
troduction of machinery, who, taking up the brood Kne of ar- 
gument maintained by Montesquieu, have asserted that the 
saving of labor is hurtful to the true interests of communi- 
ties. That the first introductions of mechanical &cilities to la- 
bor have been, and must always be, accompanied by hardship to 
the artisipins {previously empWed in any branch so invaded, is 
a p(Miition which, although ^equently much exaggerated, is 
vet incontrovertiblv true ; but however much the ftct may 
be de];dored, and however strenuously the benevolent man 
should set hims^f to devise and to practise means for allevi- 
ating the unavoidable evil, there still would be but little wis- 
dom, and, taking a more extended view, but little real philan- 
> thropy» in setting bounds to the prepress <^ improvements 
which are calculated to brii^ the enjoyments and conveni* 
eDces-of life within the reach of a larger number of indi« 
victuals. The injury to the deprived artisan is probably but 
temporarfy while the benefit to society is lasting and pro* 
grefi^ve. The veiy individuals who sdnes from this kiad of 



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216 SILK MAKUFACTUBE. PAST IH. 

interference with their own particular line of parsuit, are m- 
terested in fostering improvements in regard to every other 
article of human producticm. The class of consumers most 
always be more numerous than that of producers ; and it would 
be difficult in the present day to maintain the proposition, that 
the lasting interests of the many are to be sacrificed fi>r the 
temporary advantage of a number comparatively insignificant 

It can scarcely be considered as properly belonging to a 
treatise on the silk manufacture, to enter historically and at 
length into the question of the first invention of power-looms; 
or, to speak more correctly, into a description of the means 
proposed for their achievement, since the practicability of 
such an adaptation was imagined, and projects for its accom- 
plishment were published, many years before these were sob- 
initted to the test of practice. 

As early as the close of the seventeenth century, the 
drawing and description of a loom for mechanical weaving 
was presented to to Royal Society of London. Although 
there is every reason for believing that this circumstaiice 
was wholly unknown to to ingenious author of the actual 
loom first employed in this very mteresting object, there does 
not appear to exist afiy material difference between this ma- 
chine and the earlier description. The conception and ac- 
conuplishment of this important invention, by a gentleman 
totally unconnected with the pursuit of manufactures, unac- 
ijuainted even at the time with the commonest processes used 
in weaving, whose pursuits in life were of a nature wholly 
foreign to the mechanical arts, and whose attention was 
drawn to the subject by circumstances purely accidental, is a 
&ct so curious and interesting, tot the insertion of the fol- 
lowing letter, which the inventor, to Rev. Edmund Cart- 
wright, D.D., afterwards wrote upon to subject to to re- 
spectable secretary to to Chamber of Commerce in Glasgow, 
needs no apology : — 

" Happenmg to be at Matlock in to summer of 1784, I 
fell in company with some gentlemen of Manchester, when 
to ccmversation turned oh Arkwright*s spinning machinery. 
One of the company observed, that as soon as Arkwright's 
patent expired, so many mills woiild be erected, and so much 
cotton spun, that hands never could be found to weave it To 
this observation I replied, that Arkwright must then set his 
wits to work to invent a weaving mill. This brought on a 
conversation on the subject, in which the Manchester |^ntle- 
men unanimously agreed that to thing was inipracticaUe ; 
and, in dflfenc« of toir opinion, toy adduced ai^gnoMiiti 



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C^KAF. V. POWEK- WEAVING. 217 

'vi^ioh I certainly was Jncompetent, to answer or even to cojm- 
prelidnd, being tottUly ignorant of the subject, having never 
«.t that time Seen a person weaver I controverted, however, 
ti|6 impracticability ef the thing, by remarking that there 
iMid lately been exhibited in Lioiidon an automaton figure 
"which played at chess.^ ^Now you will ^ot assert, gentle- 
men,* said I, * tliat it is ,m(»re difficult to construct a raachipe 
tkat shall weave, than one which shall make all the variety 
<^ moves which are required in tl)at complicated game.* 

*♦ Soffie little time-afterwards a particular circumstance re- 
'calling this conversation to my mind, it struck roe that, as in 
plain weaving, according to the conc^on t then had of the 
tmsiness, there could be only diree movements which were to 
fi^ow each other in succession, th^re would be little difficulty 
in producing and repeating them. Full of these ideas, I im- 
mediately employed a. carpenter and smith to carry tliem into 
6fiect As soon as the machine w^ finished, I got a weaver 
to putrin tlie warp, which was of such materials as sail-cloth 
is usuaHy made oft to my j^reat delight a piece of cloth, 
such as it was, was ^6 produce! As 1 had never before 
turned my thomshts to any thmg niechanical, Either in theory 
or practice, nor nad ever se^ a loom at work, or knew any 
thmg of its consUructiony ymi will readilj^suppose^that my 
first loom must ^ave been a olost rude piece (H. machinery. 
The warp wns placed perpendicularly ; the reed fell with a 
force of at least halfa hundred weight; and the nirings 
which threw the shuttle were strong enough to have thrown 
a Cohgreve rocket) in i^oit, it required the strength of two 
powe]?ul men to work the machine at a slow rate, and only 
for a. gftort time: C(HiceiVmg, ia'iny great simi^icity, that I 
had accomplidied'all that was required, I then securcMl what I 
thought a most valua})le property by a patent, '4th of April, 
1785. This being done, I then condescended to see now 
other people wove; and you will guess hiy astonishment 
when I compared their easy modes m operation wit^ mine. 
Availing mysdf, however, hi what I then saw, I made a 
loom, in its gener^ princifdes l^early as they are now made : 
bijit it was^not till the year 1787 that I completed my inven- 
tion, when,! took out my last weaving patent, Augiist li of 
that year." 

TTie history <^ this invention is ferCh^r curious, as fllna- 
trating some of the many difficnfties which so firejiuently at- 
tend upon the introduction of new plans, and Virhich call for 
the exercise of patience the most unwearied, and of energies 
the most unquenchable, to preserve inventioai of even tie 
T 



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218 BlhK MANVFAPTUBE. PART JUI. 

very highest value from fidliag iato nefflect and oblivk». 
^ow maDy such inventi(9i^ have been so kst to the worldt ^X 
least for a time, it we]*e vain to inquire ; ' that they have be^ 
numy will be readily acknowledsed, when it is cpnsidered 
how seldom are seen combined Ux the same person, the fiuml^ 
of invention, with the more active, and, perhaps, more d^ 
cplt quaU^ of pejrseverance under repeated dmculties and 
msappointment& The man <^ common-place endowments 
will combat st^eadily and successfully ligainst the tyranny of 
circumstances, whue the aspiring e&rts of genius jure chain- 
ed down by. the hands of ignorance and prejuxlice. It were, 
perhaps, wrong to cast this ceo^sure upcm society, unqualified 
by the further jrepotark,. that inventors are fi^uentlyfound 
too fiir in advance of the age in which they liye. The in- 
vention of Dr. Cartwri^t itself aflfords evidence of this fiu;t 
Power-Blooms could not have been 'extensively employed at 
the period of their inception, when the supply of cotton wool 
did not amount to one tenth part of the quantity whieh noyr 
passes annually throttgh, the. hands of our manuftLcturers. 
£ven had the supply of the j^w material been increased pro- 
portionally with the means fop its cc»[^version,.^the quantity 
of fabrics Which power*weaVing has been. found adequate to 
produce would have^ ontstripped the then etxisting wants 
of mankind. - ■ . 

At the end of tiiree years from itar, first c^cejHion, fh*. 
.Cartwri^t, b&vin^, as we have seen, secured to himself the 
benefit of his invention by patent, erected a weaving miH at 
Doncaster, an4 furnished it with looms wherewith to prose- 
cute the business of w^fiving. These machines were evi- 
dently found to be incomplete and insu^cient for .the purpose, 
as the reverend doctor procure grants of three other patents 
successively far^ improvements upon his first invention ; the 
last of these patents being dated the 1:3th of November, 
1788, as appears from the report of a committee of the house 
of commons,, to whom the doctor's various patents were pro- 
duced ; and not on the 1st of Augui^ in the preceding year, 
as erroneously stated in the foregoing letter ; tiiis last being 
the date of the third patent granted to Dr. Cartwright for 
this olnect . - - 

In the many, alteraticms rendered necessary by these im- 
provements^ and in'^e, disbursements indispensably attendant 
upon the establishment jof so important a concern. Dr. Cart- 
wright expenjied a sum of money equal to between ^,0001 
and 40,000Z. ! and was compelled to abandon bis manufectory. 
- Subsequent to, this, in tlie year 1791, Messrs. Robert Grim- 



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CHAP. V. POWER- WEAVING. 819 

shaw and Sons, of Manchester, erected a. weaving fiictorjr 
calculated to contain 400 power^ooins, and ehtered into an 
agreement with Dr. Cartwright far a license to use his patent 
But this establishment was from the first viewed with ex- 
treme jealousy on the part of the operative weavers, who 
feared lest the .employment of machinery for efiecting the 
object of their iabors should deprive them of the means of 
stiWstence. Threat^, were held out by anonymous letters, 
with a view of deterring the parties fhwri jmxjeeding with 
their factoi^; and no sooner had Messrs. Grimshaws erected 
and set to work twelve lobms dnder their agreement, than 
the building And machinely were wilfully destroyed by fire ; 
tad^eh menaces continued to be used by the weavers as at 
that time efifectu^ly restrained these ^nflemen and all other 
manu&cturers fr^ fbrther prosecuting the invention. 

Dr. Cartwright's plans accordingly slept until the expku- 
tion of hig patents deistiSoyed all hope of his deriving any 
advantage under them. .In. the *year 1808, backed by.a re- 
eommendatoty memorial signed by almost ajl the principal 
manu&ctur?rs of Manchester and its neighborhood, he pre- 
sented a petition to the house of <3ominonsi to consider which 
a comftnittee was appointed ; and upcm the, evidence reported 
by thia coijamittee; the house proceeded to vote to Dr. Cart- 
wright the sum of 10,000i. as some compensation for his out^ 
^y and disappoihtment . . 

In the year 1798, Mr. Monteith, of Pollockshaws, near 
Glasgow, erected Hie first powe|>lbom that wa^ applied to jtfie 
weaving of cotton fiibrics. ^1: a long time after this^ it was 
held and believed that the texture of silk, from its extreme 
delicajcy, called for such incessant watchfulness on the part 
irf" the weav^, that his eye and hand were constantly re- 
quired to detect and to remedy defects, which, though trifling 
and not likely to be observed in the combination of coarser 
goods, would greatly impair' the beauty and lessen the value 
of silken fehric& This opinion, although doubtless true to a 
material extent, has, however^ been proved to be not wholly 
so, since power-loc«ns to a considerable nunaber have been 
constructed and successfully employed for the production of 
both broad alks and ^ribands. It is, therefore, necessary to 
give some description of the mechanical arrangements where* 
by, in this as 4n so many other branches of human industry; 
ihe ingenuity of man has subdued evert the elements to ma 
•power, and has rendered the viewless wind, the impetuous 
stream, and the raging fire, vassals of his wilL - 

The power-loom erected for Mr. Afontejth was-c<»istructed 



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230 SILK MANUFACnxmB. PABf m. 

\j Bfr. Austin, of Glas^w, who has placed a model of his 
machine in the repository .of the Society for the Encoarage- 
ment oi Arts, Manu&ctures, and Commerce in London. A 
■qoare iron axis, which- exteeds through the mitire length of 
the bed ai the machine, is actuated by a cog-wheel, which is 
connected by means c^a pinicnT with a fly-whe^ which ghres 
motion to the various parts of the loom ; th^ jx>wer being ap« 
i^ied to the shaft 6f the Jy- wheel W some one of the wefl- 
Imown methods of communication. The axis is provided with 
ieveral camm% or wheels of ecc^itrie fbrin^ which are ixed 
securely upon it: tiiese, as they revolve, serve, 

L To depress the treadles, and consequently to sepsiate 
the warp into diflbrent portkmsy sis in the ordinaiy loom is e^ 
Ibctid by the weaver's foot 

2. To throw the shuttle > 8ndfi:o ^ugh the shed thus 
CTfittted. -< ' , 

8. To strike ^e lay or batten against the dioot, a^d t6 
return it to its proper position r and, 

4 To wind the woven cloth^ upon the cbth-Ml as ftst asit 
is formed. . • ^ 

Tlie warp is fixedin tiiis loom precisely in the «ame man- 
ner as has been already detailed in the description of t^ 
faand-loom. The same may be said of the mounting of the 
keddles or harness, and of the prol^iNon for insonng that al- 
tematin|f' motion whereby the depression of the one eauses 
the raismg of the other heddle. The camms on the axis, 
which take the oJ£ce of the weaver's feet in working the 
treadles, are bodi exactly similar in form to each other, bat 
thesr relative position on the axis is so arranged that they are 
brought ^mto operaticm at opposite periods of its revolution. 
But the exact situation and the mode of working both wiU be 
at cmce apparent, if we inlaj^ne the revolution of the axis to 
carry wiu it one camm ; this, from its irregular i^ape, strikes, 
at the exact period of tiie reWution that Is proper, upcm the 
treadle, and keeps it depressed until a change in the position 
of the warp is required, when the other camm answering to 
it is, by the continued rotation of the axis, brought into 
actioil, and the treadle first depressed is, at the same moment, 
freed from the pressure of the first mentioned camm, and 
thu» the reciprocating action of the treadles is kept up con- 
tmually, so long as the axis continues to revolve. Each en- 
tire revolution of the axis will, therefore, occasion two sepa^ 
rations of the warp by the alt^nate action of the t^vo 
treadles. 

The secoiid UK^ioRy that oif throwing the shuttle, is per- 



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CHAP. V. POWER-WEXVINa. 221 

formed by two other camms, which are likewise ceversed to 
each other in their poBition on the axis, so as to bring each 
one into operation at the moment the other is set ftee. As 
the shuttle re^juires to be thrown across the warp with some 
velocijty, and with a sudden or jerking motion, these camms 
are so shaped as to cause each to strike abruptly upon a 
lever, and to hold it depressed during a certain, portion of the 
revolution of -the axis; quittiqg it again as suddenly when 
the corresponding carofn is brou'gfht to act upon a correspond- 
ing lever for the return stroke of the shuttle. When, by the 
revolution of One camm, the lever beneath it 4s depressed, 
this lever is made to strike with mcr^ased- velocity upon a 
shorter lever, which in its descent carries with it a strap; and 
this, again, acts upon the segment of a wheel connected with 
it 1%is wheel has fastened to it a long st^fn of whalebone, 
which ifi made to snateh the string x^ the driver, and to impel 
the latter With the requisite velocity against the shuttle; 90 
that it win be driven out of the trough across the shuttle-" 
race^ into the opposite trough, pushing back the driver therein 
to a position proper for the performance of the return stroke. 
By this time, the rotation of the main i^s has caused the 
necessary change in th& position of the warp ^eadsr the 
siecond camm is brought into action, depresses Its lever, which 
again strikes upon the shorter lever ; and this, Hy acting in a 
reverse direction upon the segment of the wheel, and conse- 
quently upon the whalebone stem, causes this latter to snatch 
the string of the driver, and by its means drives the shuttle 
back across the shuttle-race into the trough. 

The third motion, that of striking the lay against the 
shoot, and returning it to a position proper for again passing 
the shuttle, is thus pieribrmed: — ^l^he shuttle-race, reed, 
whalebone stem, aiid its segment of a wheel, all form part 
of the batten frame, which is made to vibrate to and fro on 
hinges placed at its lower extremities. I'his frame is drawn 
backwards by straps, which are rolled upon pulleys, fixed 
upon a small axis. IJpon 'this same axis are fixed two other 
smaller pulleys, upon which other straps are rolled to ccmnect 
with two long levers, which are moved during the reyolutiona 
oi the main axis by two camms arranged n>r this porpose. 
These long levers are centred between the short poets of the 
^■ame under the slmttle-race. To bring forward the batten 
and reed, so as to beat up the shootr two laf'gie weights like 
one of which is placed at each aide of the loom* are suspend-* 
ed by straps from pulleys on a horizontal axis which carries 
two wheels, one at each side of the loom. On these wheelf 
T2 



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i>re»i< 
Mtten 



222 8tLK MAiniFAeTuiiE. ^AST ni. 

other straps are wound, whick comnraiticate with the firame 
of the batten, to ^w it forward. These weights would not, 
of themselves, act with sufficient promptness m drawing fbt' 
ward the reed when tJie loom was working very quickly, imd 
the time required to overcome the niOinentum whieh they re- 
ceive I7 the backward motion of the batten would derange 
the regularity of the machine. To overcome, therefore, this 
momentum, spiral springs are connected between the bo^iln 
part of the wei^ts and long lexers, which are prested down 
at the proper mtervals by the camn^; these levers being 
broui^ into action ))eRire the i«turn of the long levera per- 
mits the drawing forward of the batten. The springe are 
distended ; the moihentutn of the weiffjits is overcome ; and 
th^ are ready to act instantaneously^ \j their own gravity, 
"usted by the energy of t^e spiral springs. Thus the de- 

Bssion of the Icmg- levers by the camma'will draw back the 
fttten from liie shTOt twice during the entire revolution of 
the main axis ; and the^^pravitation of the weights, assisted by 
the spring must bring itforward during every interval. The 
third motion is then completed. 

The fourth motion is wat of winding the woven cloth, as it 
is finidied, upon the cldth-roU, which action is thus efiected : 
-^At the extreme end of the main axis is fixed a crank, or, 
an eccentric wheel performing the office of a crank ; by the 
lotetions of this, a small rod moves ^p and down, and turns 
ffonpd a small ratchet wheel to the extent of one tooUi during 
each revolution. The return of this ratchet is prevented by 
the falling of a cliqk into the teeth. On the axis of tiie 
ratchet wheel is an endless screw, which, engagmg the teeth 
of a co^Mrheel fixed upon the extremity cf the cloth-n^ 
gives to the latter a slow motion, whereby the cloth is wound 
apon it with due regularity. 

The remaining parts of this very ingenious piece of 
mechanism are so similar both in their form and o^e to like 
fMurts in the hand-loom which have been explained fliat par- 
ticularly to notice them here would be unnecessarily to mi 
d description which will* already, perhaps, be thought soffi* 
eiently complex. 

There have b^n various modifications of the power-looBL 
and several^ contrivances have, at various tiniee, been proposed 
with the view of rendering it more simde or emcacioa& 
Some of these inventions have been the objects of patents; 
but, so fkr at least as principle is concerned, there appear^ to 
be no very important variation among them, and it would be 



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CHAP. V, POWER-WEAVING. 223 

of little advantage to enter ujxm the examination of every 
trifling difference of construction. 

Power-looms which are to be worked by hand, have, on 
more than one occasion during the last few years, been ofl^- 
ed for the adoption of the silk-weaver. In all these machines, 
the various movements of the treadles, shuttle, and batten, 
are effected in their regular progression^ i)y the- combination 
of levers and springs in connexion with cranks or wheels. 

It is clear that th& loom just described, and of whieh a 
drawing has been given, is capable of being actuated by 
manual labor ; and \t must be equally evident that steam 
might be employed as the motive force, if it were desired to 
employ any considerable number of hand^poWer-looms in the 
same building. The argument is, therefore, fallacious,, 
whereby it is sought to recommend these latter inventions to 
the prejudices of operative weavers, by representing the looms 
as being more in accordance with the interests or the work- 
men. There is, in lact, no difference In the principle upon 
which both descriptions are constrncted and put to action. 

Perhaps the most ingenious of these machines which has 
yet been invented, is one which has. lately been made the 
subject of a patent by Mr. Saddler, of Paddington. It would 
be unproper to describe the mechanical arrangements of this 
production with minuteness, as all the formalities connected 
with the specification of the patents are not yet completed. 
The inventor proposes to construct double or quadruple looms, 
which, while the working parts of each are complete in 
themselves, arc yet so connected together by a strong cast- 
iron framing, and working shafts, that the moving parts of 
each of the two or four looms will be simultaneously and 
similarlv set in motion by the oscillations of a pendulum, 
which IS to be swung to and fro by the bandit In this man- 
ner, it is said, on the authority of a weaver who has made 
the attempt, tiiat without any extra exertion, one yard ofsilk 
fiibric of a medium quality may be woven in each loom in an 
hour ; so that a workman, during the ordinary duration of 
his daUy labor, may, with one of the double looms, weave 
twenty-four yards of silk; a result which, if it can be practir ' 
cally realized, would at once relieve the manufacturer from 
all apprehensions connected with the introduction of French 
manuRLCtured goods, as it would render the comparative cost' 
of production nearly as much in favor of the English mann- 
fiu^turers as it is now against them. If more than two looms 
are thus worked in connexion together, the weaver would 
require an assistant m accomplishing his labors. 



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234 SILK XANUFACTUSE. PART lU. 

It is by no means certain that this greater fiicility of |iro- 
duction would prove to the present advantage of the labeling 
weavers; oa the contrary, in proportion as the labor can be 
simplified, a lower or less instructed class, of persons will be 
employed, for it cannot require the previous preparation c^ a 
lei^gthened apprenticeship to qualify a n^ for the task <^ 
swmging a pendulum. Then^ too, the increased quantity of 
nfanufaCtur^ goods that; would, be produced by each laborer, 
would, far a time at least, occasion the employment of a fewer 
number of weavers; and although the lessened cost of pro- 
duction would, doubtless, induce* the contiumption of a larger 
quantity of goods, and thus augment the denmnd fi>r labor, a 
considerable time would be required for the proper adjust- 
ment of this matter,' and in the meanwhile the alteratioa 
would bear hardlv upon the present race of weavers. 

Mr. Saddler's loom is a substantial* machine, constructed 
almost wholly oT cast-iron, and by no means inelegant ki its 
ferm: it occupies, besides, but a small qmce. However 
much it might be calculated tp abridge the labor or odd to 
the earnings ^f the weavers^ still it is to be feared^ that there 
are but few among them who could compass its purchase, 
and thus avail themselves of its benefit 

One cause, which weiorhs materially against the use of 
power-boms in silk weaving is,' that mey do not, as is the 
case in the manufiicture of goods from coarser materials, 
save any great {uroportion of labor. In weaving linen or cot- 
toa fkbries, one m^n may be competent to afibrd die needfiil de- 
gree of attei^on.to several power-looms at the same moment; 
out this is not the ease with silk, which, from its delicacy of 
teiture, is continually giving way and requiring repair in 
some part or other. Then, t^ an important amount of time 
and' labor must be. expended in removing all roughnesses and 
inequalities in the warp threads, or, as Sie weavers call it, in 
picking the porry, during which the actual weaving must be 
suspended. The trifling saving in the amount of labor which 
can thus he realized from the yse of any mechanical appa- 
ratus, ceases ta be an object of much importance, where tiie 
value <^ the raw material forms the principal item of cost in 
the manufiictured articles; and it thence becomes very 
doubtful whether the use of power-looms, however they may 
be modified, is susceptible of much extension in any save the 
commonest branches of the silk manufacture. 



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CHAP. n. TSLrST WKAYIN6. 226 

CHAP, VL 

VELVET WBlA.VINOa 

Its first introduction into England. — Chinese Velvi^ts. -r Stmetnre of Vel- 
vet. — Process of weHviag iL -- Im^ovement therein. — Figured Velvet. 
— German Velvet. 

,'- ^ > ' , 

Vblvbt must be dasaed amonff the richest of silken fabrics. 
Althea^ iiunnpored With the date when the more simple 
eilken stractures were first known^ this elegant, manufiicture 
most be considered as of iQodem invention, it has, neverthe- 
less, been made and used in Europe far severtfl centuries. Its 
production was, for a lon^ time, confined to Italy, where, par^ 
ticularly in Florende, Milan, Venice, Luc^a, and Genoa, it 
was carrried on to a im^at extent, and with a considerable 
degree of perfection. When, however, the JVench manufac- 
turers took up l^is branch of silk weaving, they speedily ex- 
celled their instructors ; and it- was fVom tb& refugees of that 
nation, when forced to abjure their country by tJie revocation 
of the edict of Nantes in the year 1685, that the art of weav- 
ing velvet became known, and was domesticated in Spital- 
fiSds, where it has -since <Knitinued; and has b^n followed 
with success. • ^ ~. . 

The same cause havmg driven anotlfer portion o^ the 
French Protestants to ^Holland, occasioned equally. In that 
country the knowledge and prosecution o^ this process. At 
Haerlem, especially, a very considerable establ^ment was 
made with tins object ; but its productions were never brought 
sacceflsfuUy to rival the beauty of French velvets, which con- 
tinued for a long time to command a greater price in foreign 
markets than those of any other country. 

The Chinese likewise manufacture velvets ; but, if w6 are 
to judge from the specimens which have been -imported into 
Europe, their success in this branch has been but very m6d- 
erate, the quality of Chinese velvet bein^ fer inferior to even 
the most inidifierent of European production. . ' ^' 

This very beautiJul fabric may be said to have a compound 
texture. In addition to the warp and shoot, of which the 
substance of plain goods is formed, velvet has « soft shag or 
pHe^ occasioned by the insertion, of short pieces c^ silk 
thread doubled under the shoot, arid which stand upright on 
its upper surface, in such a multitude, and so crowded together, 
as entirely to conceal the inteiiacin^ of the .warp and shoot 
It is this pile which gives to velvet its characterifitic anTK>»* 



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226 SILK MANtTFACTUHfi. PABT til. 

ance, as well as that remarkable softness to the tonch, which 
distinguish it from all other manu&ctured substances, and 
which, while it would be difficult to explain them in any 
intelli^ble terms, have themselves served fat describing 
other Dodies which present appearances or qualities some- 
what similar to the sight and reeling. 

The beauty cf velvet results, in a great degnse, ftom the 
uniform evenness of its pile ; and this, of course, depends 
upon the perfect e<|t)ality in l^igtii of the threads whereof it 
is composed^ -AH m6qualitica jot this kind are rendered at 
once Apparent to* the eye, detracting materially froin the ele- 
gance and value of the goods; taSi this circumstance calls 
for more than the ordinary degree x^-carefulnesB on the part 
of the weaver. 

The pile, or, as it is teckiicall]^. Imt cmrruptly called by 
the weaver, the pde, is, of course,, inserted during thv ope- 
nikm of weaving the warp and shoot; and its ins^lifm is 
thus effected : — 

The loom beinff prepared, ormounted, as for the weaving 
of pLsia silk, ano&er set of threads is provid^ to run in the 
same direction with the tiireads of the warp. The two sets 
of threads are kept effectually disengaged- from each other, 
by eauang those, which are to form the pile to rise diag(»iBlly 
m)m the breast-roU, through the whole extent of the pwry, 
that is, tt^ough the space betweea.the breast-rpU and the 
yara-^roll aithe loom. Over the last of these is placed another - 
idII; and witl^ this tlie threads of the pile are connected, in 
the same manner as are the threads of the warp with the 
yarn-roll, and the delivery of the pile threads from this roller 
IS governed similarly to the delivery of the warp threads, by 
means of a regulating weight There is an absolute neces- 
sity for keeping the warp and pile distinct and independent 
of each other, which will be very evident, if it is con- 
sidered that the lineal quantity of the latter which goes to 
the production of a given measure <^ velvet must fe very 
greatly more than that of the warp threads. In point effect, 
' with every ywrd of velvet that is produced, six yards of the 
pUe are rec;^iired*to be used. . . 

Fig. 26. 



.The above dia^m exhibits the structure of velvet, and 
the mode of combm'ing the threads of the shoot with the pile. 



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COAP.VI. VELVfilw WSAVINO^ S27 

The texture is shown as if looseaed, for the purpose of dis* 
playing the various parts, with greater distmctness. a a are 
the warp threads, and the dots or SBaali circled which occur 
in the loqps representing the .woven |)ert, are sections of the 
threads that form the shoot; b i^ows the pile threads, which 
meet the threads ofthj& warp in the angle o, Lito this angle 
the weaver inserts a brasawire, so that it occupies « position 
through the whole breadth of the goods* below ike pile 
threads and above &11 the threads of the warp^ when the 
treadles being put into. action, and the. alternate threads of 
the warp raised,. the shuttle is.thjown, passing over l^e pile 
threads and the depressed hajf of the warp; the batten is 
then struck up against the shoot, thus acoomplishing the re* 
quisite interlacing c^ tho'iyarp and -dioot, and forming a loop 
of the pile thread over the^wire. This wire is peculiarly 
formed, having one ef its ^sides flattened, and a noove cut 
through its entire length, the fbfmand situation of which are 
shown by the followmg section. • 

p. ^ The shuttle is tiurown three times between each 
rig» 557. ingejt^n of the wire : the first g^oot is of coarser 

>^ thread tha,n that which is used for the other two 
^— ■ dM)ots, and, when struck up by the batten,: causes, 
the wire to take its proper po^iti(Hi with the flattened lende 
down, and its sharper edge towards the cloth-rolL dd ehcfw 
the loops thus formed. By nmning a sharp ihstrumeiit called 
a trevat along the groove of the wire, these hops are then 
divided in the manner described at e e, and the "^diole bpenu* 
tion of velvet weaving has been efiScted. It is necessary to 
use two wires, so that one may always remain in the cloth 
when the hind«: one is cut outi otherwise, the pile, threads in 
the porxy would be set at liberty, imd the whole operation 
derangjed; but by keeping one wire^ways inserted and se* 
cured in its place by three threads of shcSxt, the pile, is stifla^ 
ciently connected With the texture to prevent such an acci- 
dent The liberated wire is now again inserted ; and when in 
its turn this has been secured by Sire^ casts of the shoot, the 
other wire is cut out, and "so on alternately. The richest 
velvets were formerly woven with thirty-eight lodps, caused 
by as many insertions of the whres, in every inch ; but this^ 
branch of silk jnanufecture, encourag<3d by the greatly in- 
creased demand, and participating in the general improve- 
ment now experienced, as many asflfty-fiVe insertions of the 
wires are made in the small space just mentioned. 

The circumstance above mentioned, of the employment of 
threads of diflferent degree^of fineness to- compose' the skoeJt, 



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228 SILK MASaTTACIVfiS. JfAMT Ui^ 

naden it» of oounM, nectMiry t» vm two shutdee^ nHach 
must be exchanged to eadi other at coostaatly recurring 
tet unequal int^Talfl. It ha« indeed been ahown, that the 
weaver of velvet requtrea to exercise an unintermitting care- 
lulnefla in the suceeaaion of operotiona which he has to con- 
duct The uae of the trievat m cutting the pile calla fer a 
certain amount of akiliultteaa or sleight of hiind, oal; to be 
§al\j acquired throujrii care and after long practice, while the 
minuteat deviation nrora the propeir line in perfomiino^ thia 
part of the proceaa would infallibly injure, if even it did not 
deatroy, the- gooda ; and the raovementa to be nrade through- 
out the entire operation are, aa haa been .^wn, so numerous, 
and require aucli constant changing of the hand from one ac- 
tion to another, tha!tt^ weaver is greatly and unav(»dably 
retarded in h^ progress. It is considered to amount taa 
very good day*a work^ when as much aa one yard of plain 
velvet haa been wov^i. For this the workman is usually 
paid five times the price charged ror weaving groe-de-naples. 

The warp and pile 'of velvet are both c6mposed of organ- 
zinie silk, and it is eVklent that its richness depends upon the 
relative number of its pile threads ; the manuftcturers are 
accordinglv accustomed to designate velvets of difibrent 
degreee or richness, aa velvet of two, four, or mx thr«ids, 
according to the number of pile threads wlidch are inserted 
between each of the dents or the reed. 

An inferior deecHption c^ velvet haa of late years been 
eomposed of cotton. One of the [Nrincipal uses to, which 
this 18 applied, is that of ornamenting articles of household 
furniture, such aa window hangings, which are not expose^ 
to alose imqpectiott, or aubjected to much wear, the di^rence 
of quality between it anid ailk velvet being immediately dis- 
eemible.- 

Velvet is sometimes woven with stripes which nm in the 
direction of the shoot, and which tre produced, at re^kr 
intervals, by leaving uncut auch a number of loops of the 
pile aa are suffieient to make Up the breadth of the intended 
stripe. The wire employed for forming these uncut loops is* 
unlike that described, bemg of a [»m|)le cylmdrical form : the 
i^pearance of velvet thus woven is rich and pleasing. 

it has been already said that velvets ^ould be manufiie- 
tured thrc^ighout, warp, shoot,' and pile, of soft organzined 
ailk. Thia condition is not, however, always adhered to by 
foreign weavers of velvet; and, in particular, some gooAi 
have been iMwrght to this country from Germany, the p3e of 
which IB composed of what is caUed Bouple^ which ie ailk 



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GttAP« vn. €»AU££ WBAVINO. 229 

dyed in tfae^fum. By the'employment of this article, which 
eontains an admixture of foreign matter, a less quantity of 
silk is made to suffice in forming the pOe \ but it is evident 
that the apparent richness will soon disEippear, and the real 
inferiority of quality attendant upon this procedure will mani- 
fest itself to the wearer after only a very short acquaintance 
with his purchase. 



CHAP. vn. 

. . OAUZB WEAYINO. 

tta Origin.— Structure.— Peculiarity of Arrangements in Weaving it.— 
Mode of fiuttinf tbese in Action.— Difficulty of tliB Proceaa.— Superiority 
of the French in Gauze! Weaving.— Accounted for. 

Gauze is a very light and transparent fabric. The ety- 
mology of its name has caused it to be conjectured that we 
are indebted for its inventidb to Graza, a city of Palestine, on 
the frontiers of Egypt, which, although now of only small 
extent, was formerly a place of considerable magnitude and 
celebrity. The manu&cture of silk gauzes was, some vears 
ago, very extensively prosecuted in the district of Spitalnelds, 
but has of late been almost wholly discontinued in that quar- 
ter, and is principally transpkmted to Paisley, near Glasgow, 
aim the neighbormg villages in the counties of Lanark and 
Renfrew. 

The particular arrangements used in the production of this 
tasteful fiibric are known among the craft under the title oi 
cress-weaving. In all the species of interlacing hitherto 
described, w&tever the order of succession wherem the warp, 
threads may be alternately raised and depressed, they always 
remain parallel to each other, and without twisting or croes- 
ing ; whereas it is liie essential character of ganze, tbAt be- 
tween each cast of the shuttle such a crosdng of the warp 
threads sludl ensue, as while it admits o^ each shoot being in 
its turn struck up by the b(^n with the defipree of force ne- 
cessarily requirea to impart to it sUibility and regularity, ^et 
prevents its bein^ carried thereby into absolute contact widi 
the shoot immediately preceding; the intervals thus left be- 
tween the interlacings causing that d^pcee of traneparency, 
which, without these crossings, could only result frcHn a 
looseness of texture altogether incompatible with beauty and 
utility. 

In the following diagram, the unshaded cross lines must 



GoOQif^ 



230 8ILK HANVFACTUBE. PART in* 

be taken to represent the dioot, while the twisted lines, 
whereby they are intersected and embraced, are descriptive 
of the warp thread& It is evident that the twisting* thos 
given must efibctually prevent the too close approximating 
of the successive shopts, without being in any respect incom- 
patible with the needful regularity of their positions, or with 
a due degree of stability. The diagram is necessarily drawn 
upon an exaggerated scale, in order to render the peculiarity 
of the fabric at once apparent upon inspection. ' 

Fiff,2S. 




To produce the appearance here given, it is not necessary 
that the adjoining warp threads should be actusilly crossed at 
each casting of me shuttle, as the return of the tiireads from 
the crossed to the parallel* state Mrill have the same e^ct 
as gfiving a reversed crossing. The twistings are made al- 
ternately to tbe riffht and the left hand ; and each twist, as 
it is produced, is kept by the strikm^ up of the ^oot with 
jthe batten. 

It would not be possible, within the, necessary limits, and 
without having recourse to numerous drawings, to commu- 
nicate with sufficient clearness all the minutiaB of arran^ 
ment upon which ^uze weaving is made to depend. It wiD, 
perhaps, Suffice to impart a general idea of the principle upon 
which it is conducted. 

The mounting of a gauze-loom consists of four heddles, or 
leaves of heddles, and of two half leaves. In order to^produce 
the twist in ^rmmg the shed, the warp threads do not rise 
and sink alternately, or at regular intervals, as in plain weav- 
ing or in twilling,, one thread feing always raised, and the other 
thread as constantly depressed. The raised thread is drawn 
through the third leaf of heddles, and as it always rises, is 
not taken through the loop of the heddle or the mail, but 
above it, through what the weavers usually call the upper 
doup. The other thread is drawn through the fourth leaf of 
heddles, and because it always sinks, is drawn through its 
under doup. One of .the twahalf leaves is hung from &ove. 



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CttA^. Vhl. BROCADE, lOAlffASK, ETC. 231 

and the other is attached below. That from above passes 
through the lower doup of one standard ; apd the other half 
leaf, which is attached below, pa^es through the upper doup 
of the second standard. The raised warp thread is drawn 
through the under half lear connected with its standard, and 
the other thread passes through the upper half leaf eonnectp 
ed with its standard. The alternate crossings of the warp 
threads are occasioned by the action of- the half leaves. 

The heddles and standards are moved by two treadles, the 
depression of which in this mode of weaving calls for more 
than the ordinary amount of exertion ; especially when the 
weather is damp, the labor, is so much increased that the 
weaver can mUke.only slow progre^ ,with his wor)t. Another 
evil attending this kind of weaving is, that the increased 
friction to which the silk threads are subjected occasions 
them vwy frec[uently to break— much more frequently than 
in any other kmd of weaving— and the arrangements render 
&eir repair a much more troublesome operation. To remedy 
ttna, it was usual &rmerly to pass the warp threads through 
the eyes of glass beads; but this was a troublesome and 
tedious process, and, joined to the difficulty of properly con- 
fining the beads, has induced the weavers to discontinue their 
em{doyment 

Gauze is one of the very few articles of silk mstnnfacture 
in which it is held that the IVench weaves still bear away 
the palm from ours; a ^t which is, doubtless, referrible to 
the Ipwer rate of wages paid on the other side of the Chan- 
nel. The weight of silk contained in a yard of gauze is 
very trifling; and the value of the material bears a much 
smaller proportion to that of the labor consumed in it& con* 
version, than is borne by weightier &brics. 



Chap. vm. 

9ROCADE, DAMASK,- ETC. 

Gold and Silver Brocade.— Metallic Threads.— Gilt ^nd Silvered Paper: — 
Pamasquitte.— Machinery employed in its Production. — Method of re. 
storing Tarnished Brocade.— Silk Brocade. — Damask. — Its Manufacture 
brought to EnglaAd.— Mode of Manufacture.— Cafard Damask.— Persian. 

^^-Sarsnet. — G ros-de, Naples. —Du Cape. — Satin.— Crape. — LteVantine. 

Gros-des-Indes.— Watering. — .Embossing, Mixed Goods. — Bombazins^-r 
Poplins. — Lustres.— Shawls. . 

The highly ornamented and rich brocades in which our 
great^grandmothers used to find sach delight have now 'en- 



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282 8ILK' MANtJFACTUUfi* PART OT. 

tirely dinppeared from use, and, indeed, scarcely exist for as, 
except in the verses of our poets or the essayaof satirkts ot 
those days. It would be useless, therefore, lo attempt giving 
a description of the mode of manufacturing articles so appa- 
rently consigned to oblivion, if it were not %r the probability 
that, in some of the ceaseless mutations of ftishion, these 
sumptuous fabrics may jret once again lay claim to admiratk)ii 
in our drawing-rooms, to the exclusion of the less substantial 
and less gaudy finery with which the fickle leaders of public 
taste are now satisfied. 

In ancient times, those cloths only were called brocades 
which were woven, both in the warp and shoot, with gold or 
silver threads, or with a mixture 'or combination of both these 
materials. In preparing the threads &t manufacturing g^d 
brocade, a flattened silver-gilt wire or riband wos spun on 
silk that had been dyed, to resemble as nearly as possible the 
eolor of the metal ; and the {principal excellence in the art 
of preparing g(Ad threads consisted in so regulating the con- 
volutions of the metallic coverin^? of the silk, as that its 
edges should exactly touch, and form, as it were, one con- 
tinned casing, without either interval or overlapping. 

At i^ time when the weaving of these golden tissues was 
encouraged by public taste, the nbanufacture of the threads, 
whence they were produced, had arrived at a high degree df 
excellence. At Milan there was a considerable mannitctoiy, 
in which, by a secret process, flatted wije was made, having 
only one side covered with gilding. Threads of an inferiw 
description were also made, chiefly at Nuremberg, by spin- 
ning gilt copper wire upon threads of efther flax <»^ hemp; 
and me Chmese, still more economical, xised slips of gilt 
paper, which they twisted upon silk, and sometimes even in- 
troduced into their stufll, without thus giving to the paper 
any fibrous support But these productions could have boast- 
ed, at best, only an evanescent beauty ; and, accordingly, we 
learn from Du Halde, the historian of China, that golden 
tissues were rarely used in that country, except for tapestries, 
or other ornamental substances, which were but little ex- 
posed to view, and could be eflfectually protected firom mois- 
ture. - 

In process of time, silken threads, uncovered with metallic 
wives, were used to form the plain ground of brocades, upon 
which gold or silver • flowers, or other ornaments, were 
raised ; and at a still later period, fiibrics composed entirely 
pf uncoyered silk, provided they were adorned and worked 



g^Mi'i - - Digitized by VjOOQIC 



CHAP. Vni. BROCADE, DAMASK, ETC/ ^3 

with flow6rs» or other ornamental figures, equally took the 
name of hrocades. 

There was a v6ry considerable and Hourishing manufacture 
of brocades carried on during the^ thirteenth century in Luc- 
ca ; but, in the j^ear 1310, W the insensSte tyranny of Caa- 
truccio Castracani, as related by his biographer, the cele- 
brated Machiavel, the artisans thus engag^ were driven from 
that city ; and 300 of these retired to Venice, where, encour- 
aged by the ofler of many privileges, they recommenced 
their manu&cture. For a considerable time after this the 
Venetian manufacture was carried on with the raw material 
brought from Sicily and the Levant ; the cultivation of the 
mulberry tree, and the breeding of silkworms, not having 
been adopted lo any extent in that quarter earlier than the 
sixteenth century. ' ' 

In the course of the last century, the Venetians invented 
a modification of brocade, and in this new manufkcture, 
which they called " damasquitte," they at one time carried 
(m. a very extensive trade. Although these stufi^ actually 
contained not more than half the quantity of gold or silver 
employed in making brocade according to the usual method, 
liiey yet looked far more beautiful. The flatted wires were 
not wound so dose together on the silk threads, nor were 
there so many of these threads used in^ the weaving ; but by 
passing the stufi^, when manufactured, between rollers, to 
which a great amount of pressure was given, the wire threads 
were partially crushed, so as to cause the ornamental pattern 
to assume the appearance of one unbroken and brilliant plate 
of gold OB silver. 

The process whereby this degree of pressure was commu- 
nicated waB for a long time kept careftilly enveloped in mys^ 
tery by the Venetian manufacturers. The adv^intege derived 
by the state qf Venice from this manufacture at length drew 
the attention and excited a spirit of rivalry on the part of the 
French government, who engaged the celebrated Monsieur 
Vaucanson in the endeavor to contrive machinery for pro- 
ducing similar &brics. In this i^ttempt he proved success^l ; 
and we are indebted to the published memoirs of the French 
Academy for the year 1757 for an account of his success, 
and of the machinery employed by him in the manu^ture 
at ]>ons. 

The cloth was passed between i^ollers* the lower one of 
which was made of wood, thuty-two inches in lengthy and 
fourteen inches in diameter. The upper JoUer was of copper, 
thirty-six inches long, and eight in diameter ; the last wat 



234 8ILK MANUFiitmTBE. PAST m. 

flude hollow, and it was open at one end, for (he mtrodactkMi 
of iron heaters. Both the rollers were made, as nearly as 
pomble, in the form of perf^t cjrlinders. In his first at- 
tempts to work with these rollers, Mcmsieur Vaucanson fbaod 
that the exerted force of ten men Was barely sufficient, and 
that for only a riM)rt thne, to turn them with force enoogk 
properly to extend the plating of the wire threads; and, by 
the excessive pressdre used, the- collars in which the axes of 
the rollers turned were worn so fast, and ta such a dc^g^ree, 
that the pressure was constantly and progressively diminish- 
mg, 80 that a ]Mece of stuff (^ twelve ya^ had die gilding 
risibly less extended on the last thaif on the fir^ ya^ and 
the machine was constantly subject to disarrangement It 
was attempted to lessen this evil by screwing up the rollers 
towards each other during the progress of the pressing ; bat 
this was olijectionable, because, for every turn tiiat was given 
to the tightening screws, a mark or bar invariably a{^eaTed 
across t^ cloth. To lessen the wearing away of the bearing 
collars, anti-firiction wheels or rollers were provided, betwera 
which the axes of the roUers were made to turn ; but this 
remedy produced an evil of anothei^kind : the wooden roller, 
which, from, the nature of its material, was susceptible ci 
compression^ had its cylindrical form so altered, that the ef- 
Ibct upon the cloth yaned in every part of the rev(^tion. It 
was in vain that the ingenious inventor made trial of difi^nt 
kinds of wood for constructing the n>ller : if this was hard, 
it invariably split, and if soft, it warped; so that of twenty 
ndlen formed from difierent kindis of wood which were tried, 
not one continued cylindrical during twenty-fbur hours' wotL 
These fiulures induced M. Vaucanson to contrive a method 
of fbrdng the rollers together, so that the pressure dioald 
alwa3rB accommodate itself to any inequalities that niidit 
occur in the woi^, or in the bearings of ^ maehme. The 
axis of the co|^>er re^ler was made to turn, as already men- 
tkmod, between anti-fricticm rollers, while the wooden n^er 
was pressed npwaYds by levers placed one at each end. Each 
of these levers had the end of its short arih supported on ^ 
frame of liie machhie, and the long arm drawn upwards by 
an iton rod which communicated with the short arm of an* 
ol^r lever placed horizcmtally, while to the long arm of tins 
la^mentioned lever a weight was hung, and these levers 
were so proportioned, as that when the weight thus em^oyed 
w«8 enly of thirty pounds, the rollers were, pressed together 
with a force equal to the weight of between 17,0(S) and 
I6,€00 ponnda, iK^ich was found to b^ the ^rce required and 



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CflAP. Vm* BBOCADE, DAMASK, ETC. 235 

best adapted to the due extension of the plating. By this ar- 
rangement, the strength of four men was found to be more 
e^ctual in turning the rojlers than that often men had 
proved under the first attempted method ; and as the same 
weight acted uniformly during the entire revolutions, the 
pressure was always equal, even although the wooden roller 
should have varied in its shape, and notwitlistanding any in- 
equality that might occurin the thickness of the goods. 

Four iron baJs brought to a red heat were introduced 
withm-side of the copper roller, which became in half an 
hour nearly as hot as the utensil commonly employed by 
laundresses in ironing linen. -AJfler two, or at the moBt 
three pieces of cloth Iwui been passed through the rollers, it 
became necessary to change the wooden one for a freek roller 
of ^e same material, as the heat, if long continued, occa-? 
sioned a great tendency to splitting. The /de^ee of heat 
necessary for properly extending the gilding, alUiough it im- 
proved lie brilliancy of white and yellow silks, waa highly 
mjurious to &brics of certain other colors, and particularly to 
soch as were crimson or green. -The only remedy for this, 
and indeed it did not amount to a remedy, but was only, a 
palliative, was to pass the stuff through firom between the 
rollers with the greatest possiUe celerity. Mt Vaucanson 
recommends, that on, the removal of the heated wooden 
rollers, they should immediately be wrapped in cloths, and 
[daced in an atmosphere from which they may acquire mois- 
ture. ^ - 

Brocades, into the compbsition of which metals were ad- 
mitted, were very liable to become tami^ed;. when this, had 
taken place, they could be restored to all their original lustre 
by washing; them with a soft brush dipped ii\ warm spirit of 
wine. This appears to be the only material suitable for the 
purpose: alkal^ and even soap, would be improper; the 
rormer as they would injure the texture of the silk, and both 
as they would hurtfully af^t certain of its colors. Some 
descriptions of powders have been r<ecommeinded for rei^toring 
the &ded beauty of brocades, but however fine these may he 
ground, and however carefullv they may be used, they must 
«till, firom the very mode of theur operation, scrat<ih the 
metal ; and this, especially with goods prepared according to 
the last described process, is of an extreme thumess, so as to 
te ^adly worn away, when of codrse the whole beauty <rf'the 
&bric- would be destroyed. 

Brocades of silk were, at the commencement of the last 
century, exceediijgly admired and .much need among the lux- 



^^^^^^^^^ 



236 SILK MANtTTACTURE. PART IH. 

urions votaries of fashion of both sexes in England. We may 
learn in what degree this finery was then estimated, by con- 
sulting the pages of Pope and Addison : the fonner in t^e 
second (ianto of his elegant and lively satire, " The Rape of 
the Lock ;" and the latter in the fifteenth number of the 
Spectator, where it is stated that, amon^ the ia^onable 
ladies of that period, " a furbelow of precious stones, a hat 
buttoned with a diamond, a brocade waistcoat or petticoat, 
are standing topics of conversation ; that lace and ribands, 
silver and gold galoons, with' the like glittering gewgaws; 
are so many lures to women of weak minds, and when arti- 
ficially displaved, are able to fetch down the most airy co- 
quette -from the wildest of her flights and rambles." Fear- 
ing, perhaps, lest in thus censuring his fair country-women 
for a foible which had usually been considered as character- 
istic of tlie sex, and not confined *to any particular age or 
country, he might be chargeable with an unfair severity, the 
moralist goes on to relate how Camilla, the queen of the 
Volsci, after exhibiting her absence of all feminine softness 
by placing herself at the head of an army, that she mi^t 
assist king Tumus in his war against ^neas ; and aft«r hav- 
ing, with her own hand, slain numbers of the enemy, still al- 
lowed all the woman to reveal- itself in this particular :^— 
" She unfortunately cast her eye upon a Trojan who wore an 
embroidered tunic, a beautiful coat of mail, with a mantle of 
the finest purple. < A golden bow hung upon his shoulder, 
his garment was buckled with a golden clasp, and his head 
covered with a helmet of ^the same' shining metal.' The 
Amazon immediately singled out this well-dressed warrior, 
being seized with a woman's longing for the'pretty trappings 
fee was. adorned with :— 



- totamque ineauta per agmen, 



FoBmin^ praede et spoliorum ardebat amore."* . 

For some time after the use of brocades Ibr garments had 
been discontinued, these substantial ^brics continued to be 
employed for ornamental articles of fiimiture ; and as late as 
the year 1788 some very ele^nt pieces were woven in S|Ht- 
alfields, to be Used as chair-bottoms in Carlton House. These 
specimens of the art are still iii-existence, and prove that the 
discontinuance of the use of brocades must not be ascribed 
to any deficiency of ability on the part of our artisans, who, 
on that occasion, exhibited' a degree of skilfiilness in their 

* JEXk. lib. xi. 781. 



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CHAP. Tin. BROCADE, D.VMASK, ETC. 2d7 

klmrs fbUy eqtial to any shown by earlier and similar pro- 
ductions. 



Silk damask -was formerly extensively used both (or gar« 
ments and ornamental furniture. Applied to the latter use, 
this manu&cture is still, frequently met with in the dwellings 
of the opulent ; and it is probable that some of the deposi- 
tories of our careflil dowagers might yet be made to reveal 
habiliments which have l^en displayed at levees and draw- 
ing-rooms, exciting the envy and admiration of our progeni- 
tora 

WhUe we cannot but wonder at the taste which influence^ 
the worshippers of fashion in the olden days to incase and 
conceal their figures beneath the formal folds of such unyie]d- 
ingfiU>rics, we do not reflect -upon the probability that our 
most elegant costumes may, in their turn; become the objects 
of surprise and derision to our great-grandchildren, «nd that 
even the fifraceful draperies of Lawrence may in their eyes 
appear as rormal and grotestjue as are the once-admired ves- 
tures of Sir Peter Lehr to our own. 

it has been supposed, and the etjrmology of its name would 
seem to favor the supposition, that this branch of the weaving 
art was originally brought to the westward from Damascus. 
It has been very long followed botti in France and Italy, 
while its introduction to the looms of England appears to 
have taken place at a very early period of me annals of our 
silk manufacture ; and is said to have^ been occasioned by the 
fli^t to these hospitable shores of certain Dutch and Flemish 
weavers from the persecutions of the duke of AJva, when^ in 
the year 1567, he was deputed by Philip II. of Spain to ex- 
tinguish the kindling spark of liberty in the Low Countries ; 
afibrding thus another historical evidence of the beneficial 
influence upon society, of circumstances which, at the time 
of their occurrence, appeared to be fraught with unmixed 
and Onmitigated evil. 

The expensive nature of this manufacture caused it to be 
pHncipally confined to the use of the high-bom and wealthy 
of the land ; but on occasions, of great ceremony people in 
the more middling walk of life could still display silk damask 
garments, which during the interval of these occasions were 
carefully preserved, so that they were frequently Jianded 
down from one generation to anddier as heir-looms of the 
fiunily. Silk daraask never, in fact, became of common use ; 
and when, a full century afl^r the first introduction of its 
loanufactui^ to this country, otfr celebrated Locke publiahed 



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238 6ILK VANUFACnmE. PABT HI. 

his ** Considerations on lowering the Interest and raising the 
Value of Money," we ^find that he noticed this as an article 
of almost unwarrantable luxury. 

When wrought with a great variety of Colors, damask 
furniture had certainly a very elegant effect ; but it has not 
(or a Ion? time been usual to employ more than one color in 
damask hangings, and their •elegance now consists wholly in 
the richness of the material, and the taste displayed in the 
pattern. 

Damask is a twilled fabric ; the appearance of its texture 
is familiar to all, from its identity with that of the beautiful 
linen table services, the manufacture of which has long been 
carried on to a great extent in Scotland, and more recently 
on a smaller scale in Ireland. The weaving of these calls 
into exercise all the skiMulness of the weaver in mounting 
his loom, to the great labor attending which is, in a great 
measure, owin^ the expensiyeness of the manu&cture. 
The designs, which are frequently f ery extensive, compris- 
ing upwards of 1200 changes for their completion, are laid 
off upon paper lined into very small scjuares, in a manner al- 
ready described, and this serves as a guide in mounting the 
loom. To present such a description as would be intelligible 
and satisfactory, of this art of designing and mounting in the 
draw-loom the elaborate patterns which are so generSly met 
with in damask table-cloths, would require more space than 
can well be allotted here to an object which, as regards the 
particular subject of this wotk^ is of very minor considera- 
tion, and which applies more importantly to the manufacture 
of linen than of silken &brics. 

- The French had long since a manu^ture in imitation of 
the old-^hioned silk damask, which they called Cafard 
(counterfeit) damask : this, while it had its warp composed 
of silk, had the shoot of either thread, wool, or cotton, and 
sometimes even of hair. These stuffii were not without a 
considerable degree of beauty ; and A similar mixture of ma- 
terials is generally employed in the damask hangings whicli 
are manumctured'in the present-day. 



There are several descriptions of silk goods, or, to speak 
more correctly, several modifications of the. same class, which 
are each known popularly by distinctive names, but which 
yet require no particular description. Thus the plainest 
mode of silk-weaving takes the name of Persian, sarsnet, 
gros-de-naples, ducapes, &c., varying only in the thickness 
of the febric; or tlje quality of the material of which it it 



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CHAP. VUI. BBOCADEj DAMASK, ETC. 230 

oompofied, und not at all differing in the arrangements of its 
interlacings. 

The quality first mentioned is exceedingly flimsy in its 
texture, and has of late nearly gone out of use, its place be- 
ing taken by the. description next in quality, sarsnet. This, 
which used to fi)rm the substance of garments, is now most 
usually employed jfor lining them, eiving place in its turn, as 
regards its former more dignified uses, to gros-de-naples. 
This last \b made of stouter and^ harder thrown organzine 
silk, and is put together with more care and labor, containing 
a greater number of threads, both warp and shoot, in a given 
surface. Ducapes are likewise plain-wove stout solks, but of 
aoiteT texture than the last 



Satin is a twill of a peculiar description : the sofi; and lus- 
trous face which it exhibits is |^iven by keeping always a 
very large, proportion, firequently even as much as seven out. 
of every eight threads of the warp, visible, ot as it is called, 
floating above the shoot Satin is always woven with the 
fiice downwards, the labor of the weaver being thereby 
abridged, because it is easier to raise the harness comiected 
with one eighth, than it would be to raise seven eighths of 
the warp with every cast of the shuttle. 

It can hardly be necessary, after the particular description 
already given of the mode of producing twilled silks in gene- 
ral, to repeat any part of it here, by entering into the minutiae 
of satin-weaving. It is plain that every peculiarity attend- 
ant upon this mUs within the compasS of the Jacquaid ma- 
chine, by means of which figured satins of the most beauti- 
ful textures and patterns may be manufactured. 

When satins are first taken out of the looito, they exhibit a 
certam degree of roughness or flossiness, owing to the com- 
parative i^equency of the interlacings of the shoot with 
the wai^. To rem^y this, they are dressed by being rolled 
oa heated cylinders; which operation smooths down Sie face 
of the. goods, and imparts, at the same time, that beautiful 
lustre which is so attractive. 

Satins from China are much esteemed^ for the quality they 
possess of being easHy cleaned and bleiLched, when they re- 
sume all their original lustre ; but in other respects th^ are 
^nd to be inferior to those manufactured in Europe. Satins 
of the higher qualities have long been manufactured in Spit- 
alfields, S}x the supply of our eastern dependencies. 



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240 SILK MAKUFAGTVSS. PAST Ilf. 

Cmpe is a light and transparent article of plain weaviw; 
it is made with hard silk of the natural color, and the pecahar 
appearance which it is^ made to put on is given to it in the 
operations of dy inff and dressing aAer it quits the loom ; a 
further quantity of rum being then aBdM to. the sil^ the 
threads are impelled, by the stifihess thus acquired, to un- 
wreathe the twist which had been given to them in tl^ null, 
and hence the apparent irregularity of texture aasuaed 1^ 
crape. This may be easily proved by washing it in water 
hot enough to discharge the gum ; the fabric wifi then asaame 
an appearance very similar to that of gauze. The warp of 
crape is usually composed of siagles ; the shoot is freq&eatiij 
fi>rmed of the same material; and sometimes, wb^ it n 
wi^ed to make it of closer teztsre, of two-thr€»d tram, the 
two threadsf by partially untwisting, then give a more crink- 
led! and intricate appearance to the cloth. 

Crape^ from its sombre appearance, has alwc^s been con- 
sidered as adapted to mourning vestmenta Different manu- 
facturers affect a degree of mystery with regard to their 
peculiar modes of dressing cra{»e, possessing or imagining 
thence some superiority over their rivals in the manu&cture. 

Many of the numerous titles by which silken fabrics are 
known denote such minute distinctions that it would be both 
tedious and useless to offer any jparticular descriptions am- 
corning them. Every variation in the oider of succession 
in the namess used m weaving, or, as it is termed in the 
weavers' langua^ every different tie^ produces a di^rent 
pattern, which is thought deserving of a distinctive name. 
Most of the ^brics more generally used have already beeo 
described ; ond when it has ftirther been expkinsd that lev* 
antine is a stout, eloee^made, and twilled silk, and that gros- 
des-indes is filmed 1^ using different shuttles with direads of 
various substances for the shoot, whereby a stripe is formed 
transversely to the length of t)ie goods, there thed appears 
to be nothing more retjuired under that head <^ mfimnatJon. 

The process which is <^led watering silk, and which ^ves 
to its surface a peculiar and unequal wavy appearance, is e^ 
fected by pUcing together, lengthwise^ one on the oth^, two 
pieces of silk, and passmg them, thus circumstanced, be* 
tween two cylindrical metal rollers, one of whith is made 
hollow for the purpose of containing a heated ir^ in its cav* 
ity. Srooo^ and even as the surfiice and teictore of the 
woven fabric appear to our imperfect vision, it has in reality 
many thicknesses and as many inequalities as there are cnMS- 



1 



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CHAP. Vin. BBOCADE) DAXA8K» ETC. 241 

ingrg of the warp and ^oot Ttiese inequalities are not 
brought to coincide in the two pieces. of silk when they are 
placai together, so that such portion of the &ce of each as 
is thereby subject to severer pressure will receive a greater 
gloss or polish than other portions, and the wavy appearance 
results entirely from this unequal degree of pressure^ The 
appearance here described is sometimes produced when it is 
not wished to do so, and is the result of an unequal pressure 
used in winding the woven Qjlk upop the breast. roll of the 
loom. The only meass of preventing this accident is by 
usinfi^ a proper degree of carefulness in trolling the silk. 

The surfaces of plain silk eodds, and particularly of 
ribands, are sometimes embossed, so that very elegant pat- 
terns are produced upon Uiem. This operation; is HkewiM 
performed by passing the silk between rollers, the surfaoes 
of which contain the pattern which it is intended to produce. 
In one of the cylinders the pattern is sunk, and in the other 
raised, so that the eminences of one coincide exactly with 
the cavities of the qther cylinder. This' process has of late 
been very extensively employed for ornamenting waistcoat 
patterns, producing a very rich-and tasteful appearance ; biit 
It can be more appropriately applied to ribands or other &b- 
rics which are not much exposed to friction ; the inequalities 
of sur&ce are otherwise found to be unfit vorable to the dura- 
bilitv of the material. 



In addition to the &brics woven of silk alone, there m^ 
other ^oods into the composition of which this beautiful ma- 
terial 18 made partially to enter7 and which, in legal phrase- 
ology, are denominated mixed goods.- The most common of 
these is bombasin, which is a twilled manu&cture, having its 
warp of silk and* its shoot of worsted. 

The use of this article was at one time restricted to the 
making of mourning ^[arments;. but at a later period, no 
longer ccmdemned, like the gondolas of Venice, to wear 
alone the sable hue of night, bombasins appeared in colors as 
ffay and as various as the Protean wand of fitshion* could call 
uHrth. Their manufacture, which once employed a vast 
nmnber of looms in Spitalfields, has for some time b$en al- 
most wholly confined to the city of Norwich. Bombasins 
are all woven gra^, that is, with, silk of the natural color, 
and they are dyed in the piece after being taken from the 
loom. 

Poplins and lustres are likewise composed partly of silk 
and partly of worsted, with a somewhat larger proportion of 



L 



242 6IIJL MAIiruPACTVSE. PAST IH. 

the fiurmer material than enters into the compoBition of bom- 
basin : they are plain woven ^pods. Poplins were manufao- 
tored of exceedingly fine quslitieB in Dublin, which city had 
formerly a very favorable trade in them, but both these arti- 
cles have now nearly gcme out of use. 

Norwich lias long been celebrated for its manufacture ef 
ihawk, wherein silk forms a part in combination with either 
cotton or wmted : it i» only of late years, however, that 
these manufactures have attained to the hig^ degree of ex- 
ceUence which now characteii»is them, or that they have 
been brought in respelct to price so completely within the 
reach of the moro humble ranka. It is to these coinciding 
merits of beauty and cheapness that the shawls of Norwich 
owe their general introduction into foreign countries. It 
may indeed be said, with reference to these niixed goods gene- 
rally, that our country stands in every way without a rival 



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PAST IV. FROPSSTIBS OF SILK. 243 

PART IV. 

C^HEMICAL, MEDICAL, ANii ELECTRIC PROFERTIB8 OF SILK. 

Coloring Mfttter of the Cocoon— Manner of Bleaching Silk propoeed bjr 
Bauni6— EniD^lisb Method of Bleaching.—" The Bitter Principle."— Va- 
rious Chemical Experiments.— Gtittie Anglieanie. — Silk a Protection 
againft Malaria.— Formerly used as a Medicine.— Its Electric Properties. 
— How first discovered.— VariQiVi Exi»eriment8 detailed. 

The coloring matter, which more or less tinges silk with 
a golden hue, resides in the giun which the fSkworm pro- 
duces in such abundance with the filament, dnd which exer- 
cises so important an agency in &ciiitating all the prelimi- 
nary processes 6f its manufaoture. 

If the cocoonir be immersed hv hot water, a portion of tins 
gummy or resinous substance, will* be dissolved, and will im- 
part to the water a light amber color. If alcohol be employed 
as the solvent, a much larger portion of this matter will be 
extracted from the sil^ and a tincture formed, whiph will 
retain its color even after it has been' exposed to the rays of 
the sun for a much Jonger time than would suffice to bleach 
the silk itself. •_ ' ^ 

The knowledSe of the fiict that this coloring matter has a 
greater affinity for alcohol than for water led Mon& Baume to 
adopt the following process for bleaching silk :.-r- 

A etoue-ware vessel, of a nearly conical form, and capable 
of holding about twelve gallons, was provided, having a large 
opening at the top, aild a smaller one, about an inch m diam- 
eter, at the bqttonr. Vessels made of Common pottery-ware 
could not be used for the purpose, as they would speedily 
have been rendered unserviceable by the acid employed in 
the bleaching. From the same cause, the stcme-ware even 
proved to be not very durable. All roughnesses on the inside 
surface of tlie vessel, which could have bjroken the threads of 
silk, were carefully rubbed down with pumice-stone. The 
small aperture at bottom was closed by a cork, through the 
centre of which a glass tube,' bf a quarter of an inch diameter, 
was passed, ahd, except at the time whep it was required to 
draw off the liquid contents of the vessel, this tube also was 
kept closed by a cork. 

Six pounds of yellow ra^ silk wefe then disposed in the 
stone- ware vessel, and upon this was poured a mixture pre- 
viously made of forty-eight pounds of alcohol (^specific gravity 
0*867,) with twelve ounces of very pure'munatic acid (spe- 



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244 8ILE MANVPACTUBK. FAKV !▼• 

cifie gravity 1*114) The Veanel was then completely 
closed, and the whole was left in digestion until the liquor, 
which at first assumed a ffreen coUir, nassed to that of a 
dusky brown : this usuaHy happened in the course of twenfy- 
four hours. The acidulated spirit was then drawn off by 
means of the glass tube, and clean ^irit Of wine was poured 
continua^y over the silk, until the Is^d passed o^ perfedtly 
colorless. The silk was then left to drain without hmg 
otherwise disturbed. A mixture of the same quantity of 
spirit wiUi munatic acid was then again poured upon the aalk, 
which, after being exposed to its action for a period soeie- 
what longer than the first di^stion, proved to be perfectly 
and brilliantly white. ' The time required for this second ap- 
plication of acidulated spirit was of less or greater duration, 
according to the temperature, and the original quality of the 
silk. Baume found thilt the bleaching was much more 
readily accomplished when the cocoons had not been p^ 
viouslv baked, for the destruction of the chrysalides. The 
second dose of liquid wa^ but slightly tinged when drawn 
off; and if another p(»tion of acid, equal to naif the quantity 
origindly used, were added to it, the mixture could properly 
be used for tiie first digestion of a: second quanti^ of the raw 
material 

A fiirther washing of the silk then enstled, by poqnng 
upon it forty-eight pounds of pure imacidulated spirit of wine, 
which was drawn off in the course of the following day. 

To recover the quantity of spirit absorl^ed hy the silk, and 
which was equaPtp its own w^ht, small quantities of water 
were sprinkled over it from time to' time, and this process 
was continued until the liquid, which drained off through the 
glass tube, had no perceptible stren^. NotWithstukling 
these repeated washings, the ^k stiU retained a portion <S 
muriatic acid, which made it harshto the touch, and tf left in 
it, would, after a time, have injured its fibre : it was there- 
fore placed in a coarse Woollen bag ; and this, being incloeed 
in a basket, ^^as left for several hours in a stream ca running 
water, which effectually washed out the acid. 

Pieces of manufiictured^silk, and even made-up garments^ 
havd been siiccetefiilly bles^hed by this process. 

The spirit may, be recovered by saturatinc^ the mingled 
acid with potass, or limine, and • then distilling uie spirit m a 
copper alembic • Mons. Baume says that silk may be thus 
maae to rival or. even to surpass in whiteness and lustre the 
finest sp ecimens fi-om Nankin.* ^ 

*Ure*t 6icUoBary.,of Clieiiuftry, «tt fil§achiug. As&alM^ d« Chimin, 
tQom xvii. 



Diqiti 



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FABT IV. PROPERTIE& OF SILK. 245 

The revenue reflations, and the deamess of ^irit, make 
the above process impracticable in England, where the usual 
method of bleaching raw silk is to immerse it in a boiUn^ so- 
lution of good soap m wi^r. After boiling for two or three 
hours the silk is taken out, beaten, and then rinsed in cold 
water ; when this has been sufficiently performed* it is 
subtly wrung, then put into <X)\d soap and water, tinged 
vf'w & minute portion of indigo, and again boiled. On re- 
moving the silk from this second water* it is Wrung as dry 
as possible with the assistance of wooden pegs, and is then 
well shaken to separate the threads ; after this it is suspended 
in a kind of stove constructed for the purpose, which contains 
sulphur in a state of combustion ; the fumes arising from £his 
five the last degree of whiteness to the silk, and Uie process 
IB completed. • 

Silk is powerfully acted upon by nitria acid. If two 
drachms of this acid are mixed with 9, pint of alcohol, and 
silk, either raw or bleached, ba immersed in it, and kept in 
digestion exposed to a moderate heat for twentv-four hours, 
the silk becomerof a dull yellowish brown, which, after it has 
been wadied with spap, rinsed, and dried, turns to a ^e 
golden jeilow color, which is very permanent Concen- 
trated nitric acid> being distilled off silk, and the remaining 
liquor partially evaporated, oxalic acid 19 obtained: if the 
evaporation be pursued still farther, the residue will yield, 
together with a small portitMi more of oxalic acid, a quantity 
of yellow crystals, not in the slightest degree acid, but in- 
tensely bitter, and which stain the skin of a deep yellow co- 
lor, not easily removed. This curious substance was discov- 
ered by Welter, and was called by him "the bitter principle." 
He supposed that its production always results from the ac- 
tion'of nitric acid on animal matter. These 4;rystals, when- 
examined through a magnifying gl^ss, appear to be qpmposed 
of truncated octohedrons. 

.If the remaining liquor be previously saturated with pot- 
ass and evaporated, another vellow silky odt « separates, 
which detonates en huming coals like nitre, and appears to 
be « triple combination of the before-menticmed bnW sub- 
stance with nitrate of potass. 

The water wherem the cocoons are placed to prepare 
them for reeling, quickly acquires from them so much ot the 
resinous matter as to be more viscid than the strongest soap 
lather. Chappe found that he could inflate this water mto. 
bubbles or small ballooos, which were far more permanent 
than any formed of soap and water, und wliich equally «z- 
V2 ^ 



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240 BILK MANUFACTURB* PAltT IT. 

hdiited the jnismatic colors. The texture of these Uaddera 
was 80 tenacious, as to render them impervious to the most 
subtle gaa : Chaj^ filled several of them, whose diameter 
did not exceed three inches, with hydro^n ^as, and the little 
air faaUoons remained unbroken and floating in hiff apartment 
for considerably more than twenty-fi:>ur hours. All cocoons 
are not sufficiently glutinous for this purpose; with those 
which sjre of a very deep, yellow, the experiment will not 
•ttcceed ; such are supposed to be produced by the worm in a 
peculiar state o£ disease, which state is yet by no mean» un- 
common; 

. Accoarding to Westrum, silk, when acted upon by chlorine, 
either in the gaseous form or diluted in water, instead of 
being bleached, as cotton or linen would be, always becomes 
of a yellow color, and loses part of its solidity. The caustic 
alkafis corrode and xlissolve silk, which gives by distillation 
the results usual with animal sub^tanc^ 

Neuman found that but two fnaterii^s a^rded an equal 
quantity of volatile alkali. Toumefort observes that it con- 
tains more than hartshorn, as he obtained from fifteen ounces 
ofsilktwod^nchms of volatile salt: this, which was called 
the fl|Hrit of raw silk, wh^ rectified with some essential oil, 
was the medicine formerly celebrated under the name of 
**Gutts AnglicaniB,'* or English drops. The volatile alkali 
obtained from silk was then supposed to be of a difierent na^ 
ture fi'om that contained in any other substuice, and it con- 
sequently was held to posisess different virtues peculiar to 
itself. So salt of tartar, and sub-carbbnate of potass, were for 
a long time considered to be, and wfire used as two separate 
substances. The chemical philosopher had not then learned 
to generalize, and could not understand that the same sub- 
stance, differing in no one particular as to its nature and 
properties, cou& be obtained from milny a|^iarently wholly 
dissimilar bodies. - ^ 

Before the discoveries of chemistry had ai^ested the ftuaci- 
fiil flights and annihilated tiie quaint distinctions of the drug- 
^t, his cataloffue presented a curious nomenclature, which 
IS now ack]iowled|(ed to have been founded oirignorance and 
prejudice. The light of science has since pierced the veil, 
and iias revealed many df the laws of nature in all the beau- 
tifiil simplicity of theh* elements; di^llinj^ much c£ the 
complicated-mystery and va^e obscurity which then envel- 
opea the ill-i^ndeestood practice of pharmacy. 

A silk covering of the texture of a common handkerchief 
is mid to pooBess tile peculiar property of reusting the nox- 



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|>AKT IV. PBOPERTIES OF SILK. 247 

ious influence and of neutralizing the effects of malaria. If, 
as is supposed, the poisonous matter is received into the sys- 
tem through tiie lungs, it may not be difficult to account for 
the action of this very simple preventive : it is well known 
that such is the nature of malaria poison, that it Is easily de- 
composed by even feeble chemical agents. Now, it is proba- 
ble that the heated air proceeding from the lungs may form 
an atmosphere withiii the veil of silk, of power sufficient to 
decompose the miasma in its passage to the mouth ; although 
it may be equally true that^e textuire of the silk covering' 
may act mechanically as a noji-conductOT, and prove an im- 
pediment to the transmission of the deleterious substance.* 

We learn from Pomet's hisiory of drugs, that silk was in 
bis time used as a medicine, by. reducing 'the pure part of 
the cocoon -into a powder. Hi& volume contains many 
copious directions for preparing this powder, and for duly and 
carefiiUy separating the chrysalis from the part which he con- 
aidered medicinal. Silk thus preimred has, as he affirmed, 
^ the virtues of cleansing the blood-making the spirits brisk, 
and the heart pleasant.*' Lemery, the editor and commenta- 
tor of Pomet, adds, that the silkworm itself likewise possesses 
medicinal pro|>erties. According to his infbrmation, silk- 
worms that had been; dried into a powder and applied upon 
the head, which should be previously shaved for the reception 
of this plaster, were esteemed extremely efficacious in curmg 
vertigo. , • ' 

The imperii^ble nature of silk, even under circumstances 
peculiarly m^VOTable to the preservation of animal sub- 
stances, forms another of its <|ualilies which is deserving' of 
remark. Some years ago, -the sexton of the parish of Fal- 
kirk, in Stirlingshire, upon opening a grave in the churchyard, 
found a riband wrapped about the bphe of an arm, and which, 
being washed,. Was found to be entire, imd to have suffered 
no injury, although it had bun fi>r more than eight years in 
the earth, and )md been jn contact with a body which had 
passed throug^h every, stage of putrefaction, until it was re- 
duced to its lundred dust 



The discovery that silk is ap electric, or a non-conductor 
(^ electricity^ origii^ated in one of those fortunate accidents 
to which science has been ^hidebted for many of Jier most 
valuable dis6overiea This fiu^ it was^ which, first led to the. 

* AnauAl Ref &l«r fthr 1829, vol. Ijrzu 



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248 SILK MANUFACTURE. PART IT. 

beautiful disclosure of the ^istin^tioii between electrics aad 
non-electrics.* 

In 1729, while the Jcnowkdge of electrical phenomena 
was yet in its first infiuicy, Mr. Grey, after performing many 
interesting experiments, succeeded in conducting the electric 
fluid, excited by friction in a glass tube, through a perpendic- 
ular distance of many feet, by causing one end of a piece of 
iron wire or packthread to communicate with the glass tube, 
and the other end with an ivory ball. Pleased with his sue- 
' cesB, he became desirous of conducting the fluid horizontally; 
but this experiment fliiled at the time, through the mode of 
his attempting it, which- was bv carrying his line over a 
packthread cord, su^nded for the purpose across the room. 
Throi^h this material the electric stream escaped, and the 
ivorv &11 was, in cqnsequence, no longer found to be excited. 

Mr. Grey having communicated to a friend the ill success 
which had attended this attempt, was advised to suspend the 
conducting line by sUk instead of packthread ; there bein^ 
no other reason fi>r this advice than the greater fineness of 
the former. Acting ujxin this suffgestion, their first experi- 
ment was made in a lar^ matted ^llery ; a line, the middle 
part of which was of silk and the two extremities of. pack- 
thread, was fiustened across the gallery.; the condncting line 
with the ivory bidl at the end was parsed over ike silken por- 
tion, and bung*' nine feet below- tbiSvhorizpntal line of sus- 
pension. The conducting line was eighty feet and a half in 
length, one end being fastened by a loop to the ^ectric tube ; 
upon rubbing this, tfe experimenters had the gratification of 
finding that the ivory ball attracted and repelled light sub- 
stances in the same manner as the tube itself would have 
done. They next contrived to return the line, so- that the 
whole length amoimted to 147 fee^ and in this case likewise 
the experiment answered tolerably well ; but suspecting" that 
the attraction of the electric fluid •w^ould be stronger if the 
line were n6t doubled, they carried one straight forward 
through a distance of 124 feet In this anticipation they 
were not dc(?eiyed, the atraction under these circumstances 
being stronger than when the line was doubledr Proceeding 
thence to add more and still more to their conducting line, 
until at length the slender silk thread broke from- the weight 
impo8ed,^ey sought to.subtitute for this fragile cord a small 
wire, first of iron and then of brass. The unsuccessfur re- 
sult, however, soon brought them to the ccmviction, that the 

* ■ ■ ■ H I » ■ I H I. ' ■' * I ' ■ • ■ III 

•Notefln. 



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PABT IV. PS0PBRTIS8 OF BILK. S49 

refiisal of the silk to conduct the electric fluid was not owin^ 
to its fineness, but proceeded from some inherent property 
possessed by the material. The^ metallic ^^res were smaller 
even than tiieir silken thread had been, and yet they effectu- 
ally carried off the electricity : thicker ^silken cords were 
therefore adopted, and, as before, the electric fluid was con- 
veyed to a great horizontal distance, without suf^ringnny 
diminution ^' its virtue. 

7%is knowledge of the non-cohduc^g power of alk was 
quickly fbllowed by the discovery of the same quidity in 
many other substances, and thus accidentally was la^ the 
foundation of many of the subsequent im'provements in th»= 
science of electricity. 

No particular attention yma paid to the electric qualities 
of silk, nor were any experiments made on it as an electrie, 
until the year 1760. Mr. Symmer*s notice was then attract- 
ed to the subject by the following whimsical circumstance, 
which led him to the performance oi many curious expert-, 
ments. The results of these he communicated to the BU>yal 
Society, by whom his paper was inserted in the fifly-forst 
volume of their ** Transactions.'.' 

Mr. Symmer was in the faa^it of wearing at the same 
time two pairs of silk stocking; the iqider pair white and 
the u^per pair black. If th^se Were pulled ofi* to^etiier, no 
sign or electricilv appeared ; but if thefaiack stockm^ were 
palled off from the \mite, a^snapping or crackling noise vnm 
heard; and when this ^ppeQ^ in the dark, sparks were 
plainly' perceived between tiiem. Thus, incited, their philo- 
sophic wearer proceeded to make some further observations 
on the subject HelG>und, that by merely drawing his hand 
several times backwards and forwards over his leg while the 
stockmgs were upon it, he produced, in great penection, the 
following ^pearance& 

On the stockmgs being taken off separately and held 
within a certain distance of each other, both aroeared to be 
highly excited, the white stocking vitreoudf, me black one 
resinously.'*' While, kept at a small distance firein each o^er, 
they were so inflated that they exhibited the entire shape of 
his leg; and if brought soinewhat nearer, would immediately 
rush together. The inflation gradually subsided as they thus 
approached, and their attraction of exbaneous objects dimm- 
ioked as their mutual attraction increased, so that when they 

*Vitreout and resinous electricity used to be termed pbsitivf ant 
■egative. . ^ " « 



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250 BILK MANUFACrrURE. PAHT IV. 

mctually met, they became flat and adhered together like so 
many rolds of silk. On being again separated, their: electric 
powers did not seem to be at all mipaired, and. they continued 
for a considerable time to afl^rd a repetition of these appear- 
ances. If the two white stockings were held in one hand, 
and Uie black ones in- the other, they were thrown into a 
strange agitation, owing to the attraction exercised between 
those of different colors, and the repulsion between those of 
the same cokur. This conflicting of attractk>ns and repul- 
sions caused the stockings to rush to each other from greater 
distances than they would otherwise have done,, and ^* aflford- 
- fid a very curious spectacle.'* 

If tbe stockings were allowed to meet, tiiey adhered to- 
gether with considerable force. They required ut one time 
a weight of twelve ounces 'for their separation; and on an- 
other occasion, when^they were more highly electrified, they 
^ustahied, in a directi(m parallel to -their sur&ce, as much as 
seventeen ounces, which was twenty times the weight pf^e 
itocking& If one were placed within the other, it required 
a weisht equal to twenty ounces^to separate them, although 
half' this sufficed for the purpose if the stockings were ap- 
plied to each other externally. 

The -black stockings b^ing newly dyedy-and the white ones 
first washed «nd then bleached by exposure to th& viif)x>r of 
sulphur, their mutual atthiction was seeQ to be much in- 
creased. Under the^. circumstances,* if one was placed 
mihin the other with their rough sides together, H reqtiired 
a force of three pounds three ounees to separate them. 

With Bteckings'of more substantud make, the coheskm 
was found tabe still stronger. A whit^ stoclai^ of this de- 
scription was placed within^ a black one of simOar quality; 
first with the right side of one contiguous to the wrong side 
of the other, and afterwai^ with 3ie two rough surfiu^es 
torching each other : intbe first case they raised nearly nine 
pounds, and in the second, the still more sui^ising weight 
of fifteen pounds, without separating their surfaces. The 
tufls andf ends, of silk which are gei^erally found- (Mi the in- 
side of stojckings considerably assisted towards the result of 
these experiments, which were not nearly so striking after 
these tufts were removed. ^ 

In the coui'se of his experiments, Mr.-^jnnmet also discov- 
ered that Mack and white silkt when highly electrified, not 
only cohere to each other, but will also adhere to any brmd 
and to any polished sur&ces, even although these bodies 
should not be themselves electaified, , Having 'undesignedly 



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PART IV. FKOFKRTIES OP SILK. 251 

thrown a stocking out of bis hand, it struck against the side 
of the apartment, and adhered to the paper-hangings. He 
repeated the experiment, and found that the stocking would 
continue its adhesion for nearly an hour. Placing a black 
and a white stocking against the wall in this manner, he ap- 
plied the two others to them. Which bad previously been 
highly electrified; and putting the white to the black and 
the black to tbe white, he earned them off irom the wall, 
each of them hanging to that\wlach had dravvn it from its 
situation. When the stockings were applied to the smooth 
sud^ce of -a loc^dng-giass, they adhered even more tena- 
ciously. 

Similar experiftients, combining a greater variety of cir- 
cumstances, were afterwards maide with white and black 
ribands by Mr. Cigna of- Turin, an account of wbjch was 
published in the memoirs of the Academy of that city for 
the year 1765. 

Having dried before the fire two wbite silk* ribands, and 
extended them upon a smooth plane, he then several times 
drew over them the sharp edge of an ivory rule, and found 
that both ribands had by this wiction acquired sufficient elec- 
tricity to adhere to the plane, although they gave no indica- 
ti<His of being in this state of excitement during their con- 
tinuance upon it It was notat all uiaterial lo tlie success of 
the experiment, whether this plane was itself an electric or 
non-electric substance. When taken up separately, the 
ribands both appeared to be resinously electrified, and repell- 
ed each other: on dividing thorn, electric spai'ks were per- 
ceived between them, but on being again forced together or 
placed on the plftne, no spexka were given' off until they had 
been again excited by friction. When by means of the ivory 
rule they had thus acquired the reisinous electricity, if, in- 
stead of behig replaced on the smooth body whereon they 
had been rubbed, the ribands were appliedlo a rough con- 
ducting -surface,- they would on" their subsequent separation 
show contrary states of electricity; which would again disa)^- 
pear on their being brpught tc^iether. If after having been 
made by friction to repel each other, they were forced to- 
gether upon such a rough surface, they would in a few 
minutes be mutually^ittracted, the under one being vitredusly 
and the upper riband resihously electrified. 

If the twp ribands were subjected to fricticm upon a rough 
surface, they uniformly acquired contrary states of electri- 
cs, the upper being resinously and the lower one vil^eously 
afiected, in whatever manner tiiey might be taken oft The 



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352 tnJL HAjagfAcrvRE* faxt xv. 

tame cfaan^ was instantaneously prodoced by the use c^any 
pointed conductor. If, for instance, the two ribands having' 
been made to repel each other, the point of a needle were 
drawn along the whole length of one, it would cause both 
instantly to rush together. The same means employed to 
efiect a change of electricity in a riband already electrified, 
would communicate electricity to the other, which bad not 
vet received the excitement An unelectrified riband woold 
become electrihed if placed upon a rou^h surface and aa 
electrified riband were put upon it, or if the one were held 
parallel to the other and a pomted conductor were prese&tcd. 

Upon a smooth sur^e, Mr. Cigna placed a riband that was 
not quite dry, and applied over it anc^er that had 1>een well 
dried before the fire, when, after applying to them the usual 
firiction with the ivory rule, he found that^ in whatever man- 
ner they were removed fix)m the sur&ce, the upper one was 
^ways redinously and the lower one vitreously electrified. 
Exactly the same results were produced if the ribands em- 
ployed were black instead of white. If any icind of skint or 
if a piece of smooth glass, were used in place of the ivory 
rule, the efibct was exactly the same ; but if a roll of sul- 
phur were substituted, ^e ribai^s then uniformly acquired 
the vitreously electric^ state : when rubbed with paper, either 
gilt or not fi^ilt, the eflects were uncertain. If the ribands 
were placed between folds of paper on a plane surface,- and 
firiction were then applied to them, both ribands acquired 
the resinous electricity. When one riband was black, and 
the other white, the black genenUly acquired the reanoas 
and the white the vitreous stat^, whatever might have been 
their relative position, or the^manner of applying friction. 

Mr. Cigna likewise observed, that when the texture of the 
imper piece of silk was loose, yielding, or retiform, like that 
or a stocking, .so that its elasticity caused it to move up and 
down with the corresponding movements of the rubber 
against- the surfiice of the lower riband; and if the rul^r 
employed were of such a^ture as to communicate but little 
electricity to glass, the excitement did not dq^end up(m the 
action of the ruU)er, but upon the bo(fy whereon it was 
placed.' In such^ a case, the black silk was alwi^ resinomiy 
and the white vitr^usly affected. But if the riband was of 
a close unyielding texture, and the nature of the rubbeir such 
as would communicate a h^h d^^ee of electricity to glass, 
then the excitement of the upper pie6e depended 4iltogether 
upon the rubber. Thus, if a white silk stocking were rub- 
bed with gilt paper upon glass, it became resinousiy and the 



dby'GSogle' ■•** 



PAJStrr tV. PR0P£STIB9 OP ML*. fi58 

glaee vitreously electrified; but if the piece of silk thus 
placed upon the plate of glass were of a firmer texture, it 
was idways electrified vitreously and the glass resinously, 
when sulphur was employed as , the rubber; and most gen- 
erally the same eflect followed the use of gik paper. 

If an electrified^ riband were brought near to an insulated 
plate of lead, it would be very feeWy attracted. If then a 
fing^er were brought nigli to the lead, a spark might be ob- 
^«erved to pass» and the riband was powerfiilly attracted, but 
showed no fiirther sign of electric excitement after coming 
ia contact with the metal. On their fleparation, however^ 
both substances appeared again electrified, and a spark pasfld 
between the plate and the finger. 

If several ribands of the same color were placed on each 
other upon a smooth conducting surface, and rubbed with a 
ruler, each, on being taken singly up, gave out sparks at its 
point of separation firom the others; and on the removmiof 
the last riband, a spark would equally pass between it and the 
conductor. If all were drawn firom the plate together, they 
cohered in one mass, which was resinously electrified ctti 
both sides. If after this they were laid tc^etiier on a rough 
conductor, and th0n separated singly, beginning with that 
which had been at bottom and next to the smooth conductcwr, 
sparks appeared as before,, and all the ribands, with the ex- 
ception of that at the top, were dectrified vitreously. If 
friction were applied to them upon the rough conductorrand 
all were taken up without separation, the intermediate 
ribands acquired the electric state of either the highest or 
lowest, according as the separation was begun with either the 
one or the other. When two ribands were removed together 
from the rest, they clung, to each other, and exhibited none 
of those indications of excitement which one, if taken alone, 
would have shown. When these two were separated, that 
which had been the outer one was found to have acquired 
electricity of an opposite nature to that of the remaining un- 
divided ribands, but in a much iveaker degree. 

Several ribands were placed upon a metallic plate, which 
was charged with electricity by means of a glass globe and a 
pointed conductor held to the side opposite to tSe ribands. 
The effect of this was, that all of these became electrified ; 
but whether the State of their ^citement was like to or dif- 
fering firom that of the plate, depended altogether on the 
manner of their removal, except that the riband which was 
most remote always exhibited the opposite state of electricity 
to that of the metallic plate. 

W 



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294 filLK MANI7PACTVRE. PABT IT. 

Numeroiu other experiments, equally eimple and easy of 
accomplishment, may be made on the electric properties of 
silk, which are, no doubt, ftmiliar to such persons as have at 
all attended to the science of electricity. Silk) more re- 
markably than any other substance, exhibits a strong and per- 
manent attractive and repulsive electric power. Its property 
of exciting ^electricity by friction is of extensive application, 
causing it to hold an important place among the substances 
employed to exhibit the wonders of this science : silk always 
forms part of the apparatus of electrifying machines. '^ 

No attempt has been here made to bring forward any tJiing 
m^w, or that has not been long well known upon the subject ; 
but as many persons are prone to consider that experiments 
on scientific subjects must necessarily be invested with com- 
plexity, which places th^m beyond accomplishment by the 
uninitiated, the-above tridmg detail will serve to prove the 
fallacy of this opinion. The inartificial nature of the opera- 
tions places them within the reach of all who are disposed to 
repeat them; and some natural phenomena may thus be 
brought within the observation of every one ; adding one 
more instance- to the crowd of examples wherewith we are 
surrounded, that the most simple substances of daily use, 
whose qualities of beauty or convenience are alone under- 
stood by 1^ multitude, may be made to afibrd to the mind of 
the inquirer matter for philosophical amusement and instruc- 
tion. 



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NOTES. 



Note A. page 14. 
It has been well observed, " That throughout this extensive empii«» 
embracing so great a variety of climate, the physical and moral qual- 
itiw of the people remain as fixed and unchangeable as the laws and 
customs from which, in fact, they receive their color. Such is the force 
of ancient usage and the dread of innovation, that a Chinese never 
stops to inquire what he ought to do on any presshig emergency, but 
what Vao and Chun did in a similar case four thousand years ago. 
Time, in fact, may be said to stand still in China. Here not only the 
system of morals, of social intercourse, of jurisprudence, o# govern- 
ment, b the same now as it was three thousand years a^ ; but the cut 
of their robes, their houses, and furniture, are precisely the same : so 
that if custom has exercisf d its dominion over this smgular people, 
the y have a t least been freed from the tyranny of fashion. 
' — «««««« 

The maxims of the sovereigns and sages of antiquity,— the rites and 
ceremonies and duties required by the civil and rehgiouf institutions 
of the emoire, the laws and customs — are the points of knowledge 
which lead to wealth, power, and distinction in the statQ." Sup. Ency. 
Brit, art China, 

These people, therefore, have^no motive for joiniag in the race of 
improvement ; while it has always been the policy of their govem- 
ment to check «id entirely to repress all desire of change. 

NoTB B. page 16L 

Macpherson. in his Annals orCommerce, to which valuable work 
the autnor is indebted for many of the dates and fiicts recorded in this 
volume, remarks, virith great appearance of probability, that perhajM 
the Seres were themselves the authors of this fable ; thus making it 
appear to foreigners that the advantage was a blessing showered down 
peoaliariy on their own fiiyored country, and ooe iir which others 
could not participate. 

Note C. page 17. 
There have been many speculations formed for unravelling a sub- 
ject which is involved in so much mystery. One of the most ingenious 
among these is found in the following note to Marsden's translation of 
&e Travels of Marco Polo:— ''I have iong entertained the idea diat 
the golden fleece which Jason carried off front Colchis was a cargo, 
or perhaps only a skein, of rich golden-colored raw silk in the hank, 
which might figuratively be termed a fleece, because it was to be 
twisted into thread and interwoven into cloth. This, at least, is as 
plausible as the commonly received solution, admitted by a cele- 
brated historian not prone to credqlity." 



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S50 KOTBS. 

Note D. page 18. 

NMrchoi, Arittobulus, Theophrastus, VirgiU Dionj^ut, Peiiegetei, 
Seneoa, Airian, Solinui, Ammianus JtfarcellmuB, Clsuidian» Jerome, Ac 

Notv E. page 1% 

Pablius Synit, Vano, Tibullus, Propeitiiu, Horace, Seneca, Pliny, 
and JuvenaL 
fliny, I XL c. 5t3l T^cit. Ann. L ii. e. 32. 

Note F. page 19. 
»* Reflexiont mir let liaiaons des Romams avec let Tartaies et lea 
Chinois," by M. de Gtrignea, in Memoires de iitt^rature, vol. xxxiL p. . 
3f>5. It if taid, indeed, by flonis, lib. iv. c. 12., that ambassadors came 
fiom the Seres to court the favor of Augustus; but this is not veiy 
probable, as in the whole course of the nistory of this people it ap- 
pears that they were never desirous of any alliance or intercoune 
with other nations. 

NoTK G. page 19. 
^ By the Rhodian naval laws, preserved in the eleven^ book of the 
IMgests, unmixed silk goods when shipwrecked, if they were p ro e oiie d 
ftee fimn wet, paid a udvage of 10 per cent., as being equal to gold in 
¥4ue. 

Note H. page 26. 
Olho Frisftig. de Geat Frederici, 1. i. c. 33. ; apod Mturatorr, Script 
"voL VL col. 6C«. Ffticandi Hist Sicul. prsef '; ap. Mumtori, Script voL 
mool.256. 

Note I. page 27. 

The ancient Chinese are said to have extended their voyages aa &r 
from home as the coast of Airica,— a degree or maritime adventure 
which does not receive much confirmation from our knbwled|fe of the 
chuineis through which, in those remote times, commercial inter- 
course was earned forward in the East According to Cosraas, &e 
Indians who traded with the Chinese were accustomed to resort to 
Ceylon, where alone they received silks, spices, and other valuable 
productions, which were thenoe distributed among the different marts 
of India. Gibbon, in the fiflh.volume of the ** Decline and Fait of the 
Roman Empire," thus describes the mode of prosecuting this com- 
merce . — ^"The Chinese and Indian navigators were conducted by the 
flight of birds and periodical winds, and the ocean might be securely 
traversed in square-built ships, which, instead of iron, were sewed to- 
other with the strong thread of the cocoarnut Ceylon, Serendip, or 
Taprobana, was diyided between two hostile princes ; one of whom 
possessed the mountains, the elephants, and the luminous carbuncle ; 
and the other enjoyed the more sordid riehes of domestic industry, 
foreign ti^ide, and the capacious harbor of Trinquemale, which re- 
ceived and dismissed the fleets of the East and West In this hos- 
pitable isle, at an equal distance (as it was computed) from their re- 
spective countries, the silk merchants of China, who had collected in 
their voyages, aloes, cloves, nutmegs, and sandal wood, maintained a 
free and beneficial commerce with the inhabitants of the Persian 
Gulf" 



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NOTES. 257 

Note K. page 40. 

The project of roaring silkworms in the United States of America, 
has very recently been renewed, and a small package of silk, the re- 
sult oftnis attempt, was, early in the present year (1831), imported into 
Liverpool. 

.The president of the American Philosophical Society established in 
Philadelphia, M. Duponceau, has for some time been desirous of en- 
couraging this brancti of rural economy, and lately estabhshed a fila- 
ture, under the direction of a gentleman, Who, having conducted a 
similar undertaking at Nismes in France, is possessed of the requisite 
knowledge and experience. 

The quality of the silk hitherto produced in Pennsylvania is said 
fiilly to equal that of Bengal : it promises to stand well the various 
processes of dyeing, throwing, and weaving ; but, as might be expect- 
ed in the commencement of such an undertaking, the Qp^.utictii ot 
reeling has not been conducted with the requisite degree of skill. 
The attempt has hitherto been made on too small a scale for the pro- 
jector to form any satisfhctory opinion upon the issue as regards its 
profitableness ; and it yet remains to be seen whether the Philadel- 
phians are in possession of facilities for this pursuit, which will coun- 
terbalance the high rate of wages prevalent throughout the Rtalc, and 
which would otherwise give a decided advantage in point oi' price to 
the raw silks of Italy and India, even in the markets of {Im Tfiited 
States. 

The subject has appeared to be of so much importance to the Amer- 
ican legislature, that a committee of congress ha» recommended the 
project to the attention and^ protection of the government 

Vote L.' page 53. 

It is the policy of many of the states of Italy rigidly to exclude 
British manufactured goods from their territories. Yet as we annually 
take from them merchandise, principally raw silk, to the value of two 
millions sterling, and as no exportation of the {)recious metals is made 
in pa3rment for the same, it became a question in what shape and hy 
what channels the Jtalian merchants obtained returns for their pro- 
duce. Upon investigation, it^appe&red that the foreign traders took 
their remuneration in bills of exchange draWn upon the London mer- 
chants, by far the largest portion of which were remitted to Man- 
chester and Glasgow from Austria and the German states, in return 
for those products of British industry against which the Italian govern- 
ments so strictly closed their ports. It is indeed hopeless for any na- 
tion, 80 long as it has productions of its own for sale, thus to attempt 
the exclusion of the produce of another country; and perhaps the 
only consequence of such short-sighted, policy ^11 De the enhancement 
to uiemselves of the prices of foreign producuons. 

Note M. page 77. 

There is a very "strong analogy between the course pursued, up to a 
recent period, by the English government, with reference to the trade 
in thrown and manufactured silk, and that followed by the govern- 
ment of France in respect of the introduction of materials for their 
cotton manufactures. The spinners of fine cotton yams in the latter 
oouhtry having asked for protection against the importation of yacps 
W2 



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S6t 90tBfl>^ 

of dial quality, « very targd Brohibitory. dutf was accordingly imposed. 
The contequetic^ of this measure was, tfiat the manufacturerB of the 
better quautiee of oAuslin not being able to dispensti^th the uae of 
the fine yams livhich they had been accustomed to import, and the 
French spinnerB being unable to furnish ihem with any substitute, the 
tmuffgler was immediately put into active occupation, and, notwith- 
fltandihg the vigilance wherewith revenue reitri^tfn« were enforced 
by the aid of military eordons, passed through them all, and furnished 
to the manufacturer Che fine yams of England at an advance in price 
of from 60 to 70 per cent, so that the French spinner gained nothing 
by the prohibition^ 

The peculiar circumstances which accompanied the state of war, 
enabled the French manufacturer at that time to prosper even 'under 
this disadvantage ; but when, at the return of peace, the illicif trader 
proceeded to introduce English muslins ready manufiictured, at an ad- 
Yance upon English prices of only from 17 to 25 per cent, both the 
•pinnen and weavers were completely ruined. 

NoTB N. page 78w 
At the time when the last alteration was made in the rate of duties 
charged upon foreign manu&ctured silk goods CApril, 1829,) it was 
stated in tne house of commons by the then vice-president of the 
fioard qf Trade, the right honorable Vesey Fitzgerald, on the authority 
of French merchants, that the total cost of smuggling and insuring 
gros-de-naples was from 28 to 39 per cent upon their value ; that the 
same charges upon satin ribands amounted to from 24 to 35 per cent ; 
Upon sarcenet ribands, 25 to 26 per cent ; figured gauze, 28 to 39 per 
cent ; blonde» 12 to 13 per cent The smaller rate, in the latter case, 
being occasioned by the greater valine of the article in proportion to 
its bulk, which rendered the object of the smu^ler easier of accom- 
plishment It was further stated that crepe^isse, crape, and plain 
Euzes, liad not been smuggled at any time since their importation had 
eA legahMd by the imposition of a duty. 

Note 0. page 80. 

The evil effects of prohibitory laws upon the moral feelings of the 
community were thus eloqueniuy enforced by Mr. Vesey Flts^rald, 
on the occasion to vvhich reference has been made in the preceding 
Note. " Under prohibition the trade was a scene of offensive and ar- 
bitrary laws, restrictive of the fair exercise of the inclinations of the 
people, and regardless o€ their wants.. They were laws which no one 
felt to impose any moral obligation, and thus an habitual indifference 
to the breach of law was engendered in the public mind. But I have 
said they were inefficacious; aiid will the house encourage tboae who 
avow that the object of their inquiryls to establish a return to them? 
I will remove from the statute-book, if lean, legal crimes which the 
people do not view as moral crimes t I would not arm the common in- 
former with a power to enfer the houses of individuals; I would not 
permit even the king's officer, for the sake of a fiscal regulation, to 
violate the sanctity of every Englishman's abode. I cannot afiR>rd to 
protect the manufacture by such Odioiis laws ; and least of all, when I 
^nd that such a power never did put down smuggling; but that, with 
all these vile appliances and bad means to boot, it was absolutely in- 
•flScftcious." 



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Mpappi 



NOTES. * 259 

* NOT* p. page 80. 

I^mond, who vuitei Icons' in 1817, ha9 described the poverty of the 
nlk-^^eavers resident in and near that city, as bcdng more abject than 
9ny thing within the experience of our own artistms. There, as with 
us, the manufacture is in a great degree domestic, most of the weavers 
executing their labor in their own dwellings. The dbodes of th» 
French weavers are, however, wretched in the extreme ; one room, 
twenty feet square, not unfrequently serving every purpose, both as a 
dwelhng and workshop, for three entire families.'" 

Note Q. page 82. 

Experience has almost unifortnly proved, that low-priced labor is, in 
the endt dear labor to the employer. In contrasting the rate of wages 
paid in difierent countries for work of the same description, we should 
not only look to Uie amount of money which goes to recompense the 
daily toil of the artisan, but must also take into the account the num- 
ber of hours during which he works, the constancy wherewith he ap- 
plies himself to his labor, and the skill which he brings to its accom- 
plishment If the question of waees, a9 affecting the codt of manu* 
lactures in England, be examined oy these tests, it will in most cases 
be found that the dearness of labor wil^ us is more nominal than real. 

This position, although more obviously true in branches where labor 
is remtmerated accordmg to the time expended, cannot yet be made to 
appear incdrrect in any case unfettered by legislative interference ; and 
there is no ^ood reason for doubting, that the con^antly increasing 
skill of our silk-weavers would, if the trade wfere rendered perfectly 
free, soon give to the productions of their looms a value more than 
eauivalent to any difference that may exist between the money late 
ot wages c^t Lyons and in Spitalfields. 

Note R. page 86. 

The bark of this tree not only ^mishes Qbres for ropes, but it can 
even be formed into a species of cloth. M. la Rouvene affirms, that 
he {NTocured a beautiful vegetable silk from Uie young branches of 
this species of mulberry ; cutting the bark while ihe tree was in sap, 
and tnen beating it with mallets and steeping it in water, he obtained 
a tfaFesMl from the fibres, almost equal to silk in quality, and this was 
woven into a cloth whose texture appeared as if formed of that ma* 
terial. The women of Louisiana obtain a similar production from the 
offshoots of the mulbcrnr ; these are fathered when they are about 
four or five feet high. The bark is stripped and dried in the sun : it 
b then beaten, to get rid of the external part, which falls off, leaving 
the inner bark entire. This is again beat6n, to make it still finer, 
afler which it is bleached in dew. It is then spun, and various fitbrics 
are made firom^t, such as nets and fringes; ana sometimes it is woven 
into cloth. The finest sort of cloth among the .inhabitants of Otaheite, 
and other of the South Sea Islands, is made of the bark of this 4xee. 

Note S. page 86. - 

The wood of the mulbewy tree is used for many purposes. Its be- 
ing compact, pliant, and hard, capable of receiving a good polish, 
causes it to be sought by upholstereis, turners, and carvers. Its strength 

♦ Tour and Residence in Switzerland, vol. i. p. 317. 



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260 KOTES. 

makes it useful to the joiner, and its power of i:^s«Btmg the action of 
water almost as well as oak, makes it good timber for building boats. 
It is also a very good wood for fuel, and it i» well adapted for making 
clmrooal. — ^Mayet sur le Culture du Miurier. 

^ Note T. page 87. 

In the European silk countries a ereat many varieties of mulberry 
trees are distinguished, arising from difforence of climate, soil, method 
of culture, and other accidental causes. Among the wild mulberries 
there are some bearing roundish leaves resembling those of a rose — 
hence they have obtained the name of the Rose-lea vdd mulberry. The 
mulbernr called the Roman Leaf is distinguished from every other 
species hy its very large leaves, some of which are frequently found 
equal in size to those of « gourd. 

The Spanish greally resembles the wild rose mulberry, except that 
its leaves are larger and more pointed. It is by no means delicate, 
and can resist the strongest frosts of the severest winters in cold cli- 
mates. 

The leaves of the mulberry called the Small Queen^ are oblong, 
moderately large, and exceedingly smooth ; this species is of an excel- 
lent qualit)r, and much esteemed* 

Note U. page 87. 

Arthur Youn^ observed "mai^ noble black mulberry trees in 
Provence and Piedmont, which were never stripped, but kept for the 
fruit merely — the'silk being considered inferior that is produced from 
them.*' Bertezen affirms, matin Italy and France the leaves of the 
black mulberry are regarded as poison to the worms. 

NoT« V. page 99. 

If ^at this time any of the threads intended for the support of the co- 
coon should be broken, the wdrm will 'find, in the progress of its 
work, that the ball, not being properly poised, becomes unsteady, so 
that the insect is unable properly to go forward with it» labors. Un- 
der these circumstances the worm pierces and altogether quits the un- 
finished cocoon, and throws out its remaining threads at random wher- 
ever it passes ; by which means the silk is wholly lost, and the worm, 
finding no place wherein to prepare for its last change, dies without 
having effected it It may sometimes happen, but such a thing is of 
infrequent occurrence, that the preparatoiy threads before mentioned 
are broken by another worm working in the neighborhood, when the 
same unsatisfectory result will be experienced.— 06«. en the CvUvfre of 
SUk, by A. Steshenson. 

Note W. page 109. 

Mons. Martelov^of Montpelier, who made m?iny~fexperiments upon 
the rearing of silkworms, presented a memorial upon the subject to 
the French minister, in compliance with whose recommendation the 
states of Languedoc caused an experiment to be conducted publicly 
in the open air, in the garden belonging to the Jesuits' college at 
Montpelier. The whole was placed under the direction of Mons. 
Marteloy, who had 1200 livres assigned to him to defray the necessaiy 
expenses. The experiment succeeded perfectly. This was in 1764. 



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Nonss. 261 

On the MLovfinst yemr a second trial was made, and IBOO livres were 
•et apart &ft tne expenses. Owing, however, to the unfavorable 
nature of the season, this experiment failed entn^Iy, the heavy and 
mcessant rains making it impossible to keep the food of the worms in 
a Buiiiciently dry state. The rearing of silkworms in the open air was 
not a^in attempted in that quarter ; but the partial success led to the 
adoption amon^ cultivators of a better system of ventilation, and the 
production of silk was about this time very much extended througtK>ut 
Languedoc. — Obs. on the Culture of Silk, oy A. Stephenson. , 

Note X. page 1!^. 

It is the practice at Montauban, in Quercy, to employ shallow eii;- 
cular billow baskets; which are furnished with brush-wood for the 
•funning of the worms. The wood is ranged round two thirds of the 
bttri^t, the remaining space being left for putting in the worms and 
ibr clearing away the litter. The ends of the wood are pulled together 
at the top, and kept in that position by tying them with packthread ; 
•fier which a paper cap is placed loosely over the top, the cover being 
thought agreeable to the worms: the brush-wood rues tlu-ee or fbur 
feet above the rim of the basket 

This is thought to be an excellent contrivance, as it keeps the worms 
more cool and airy than when they are placed in arbon on a stage ; 
but it is expensive, and occupies more space than can usually be al- 
lotted fos the purpose.— ^05s. on the Culture qfSUk, by A. Stephenson. 

Note Y. page 127. 

Monsieur Baume, finding that the method usually pursued for de- 
ftro]ring the chrjrsalides previous to reeling the silk, rendered it hard, 
and that the cocoons were then reeled with more difficult &an in 
cases where no artificial heat had been employed, proposed to modify 
this by using for the purpose the Steam of spirit of wine, which vapor- 
izes at a tempemture much below that of boiling water. Acconyng 
to the testimony of this able chemist, silk thus treated proves suscep- 
tible of assuming a greater lustre than that which has been baked. 
The process used by M. Baum^, as described in the Anrudes de Chimie, 
was to dispose the cocoons viithin a wooden box, in a stratum six 
inches deep; upon each superficial square foot of these, half a pint of 

Sirit of wme was sprinkled from a watering-pot, so as to distribute 
e liquid equally over the cocoons. Another stratum was then form-" 
ed over these, and a further quantity of spirit applied, and so onr until 
the box was filled. This being then coverea closely up, and lefl 
during twenty-four hours, the whole became spontaneously heated to a 
degree sufficient to vaporize the spirit,. which in that form penetrated 
the cocoons, and acted with energy sufficient to destroy the vitality of 
the chrysalides. The cocoons having afWr this been spread out to dry, 
were then ready for being reeled, mum^ states, that silk thus treated, 
not only will exhilHt a greater lustre, but that the proportion Reeled 
will be one ninth part greater than when thd heat of ah <hren has been 
employed. 

Note Z. page 130. 
The Society for the Encouragement of Arts, &c., after having for a 
■eriet of years proffered rewards to stimulate the culture of silk in 
Eni^and, appears to be convinced of the improbability that this can 



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262 NOTES. 

ever be made a profitable branch of induitry-with ua. From tune to 
time attempts were made by perBomi whose means and intelligence 
fully qualified them fi)r the undertaking, and some few rewards were 
adjudged by the society upon the production of the specified quantities 
of silk. In no case, however, aid anj j^ractical good follow upon 
these attempts, and the society now^hmits its patronage in tUs branch 
of the usefid arts to the furtherance of silk production in the British 
colonies, and to improvements in the quality qf such as is raised in 
British b»dia. 

NoTB A A. page 134. 

Tobacco is foimd to be a deadly poison to silkworms. If a few 
grains of snufiT are suffered to fall upon one of ^em, immediate signs 
of agitation and- distress will be produced, and in the course of one 
minute the sufferer will be thrown into convulsions which speedily 
end in death. Just before expiring, the insect casts from its mouth a 
watery substance ; and if any other worm should happen to be touch* 
ed by this fluid, the Uke fatal efi^ta will ensue. — Qba, en the CttUure 
qf SUk, by A. Stkfhenbon, Esq,- 

PJOTB B R page 135. 

<*There is in the order of nature a certain and very surprising &ct ; 
when the leaves of vegetables are struck by the sun's rays, they exhale 
an immense quantity of vital air necessary to the life of animals, and 
which ihey consume hy respiration. 

«« These same leaves in the shade and in darkness exhale an im- 
mense quantity of mephitic or fixed air, which cannot be breatiied, 
and in which animals would perish. 

** This influence of the sun does not cease even when the leaf has 
been recently' gathered ; en the contrary, in darkness, gathered leaves 
will exhale a sml greater quantity of mephitic air. 

** Place one ounce of fresh mulberry leaves in a wide-necked bottle 
of the size of a^ Paris pint, ^containing two pounds of litjuid ; expose 
this bottle to the sim ; about an hour afterwards, according to the in- 
tensity of the sun, reverse the bottle and introduce a lighted taper in 
it, the light will become brighter, whiter, an^ larger, which proves 
that the vital air contained in the bottle has increased by that which 
has disengaged itself firom the leaves: to Remonstrate this phenomenon 
more clearly, a taper may be put in a similar bottle, that only contains 
the air that has entered into it by its being uncorked. Shortly afler 
the first experiment, water will be found in the bottle which contained 
the mulberry leaves; thif water, evaporating from the leaves by 
means of the heat, hangs on the sides, and runs to the bottom when 
cooling ; the leaves appear more or less withered and dry, according 
to the liquid they have lost In another similar bottle place an oimce 
of leaves, and coric it exactly like the former f place it in obscurity, 
either in a bo]^ or wrap it in cloths, in short, so as totally to exclude 
light ; about two hours after open the bottle, and put either a lighted 
taper or a small bird into it ; the candle will go out, and the bird will 
perish, as if .they had been plunged into water, which demonstrates 
that in darkness the leaves have exhaled mephitic %ir, while in the 
tun they exhaled vital air." — Count Dandolo, 



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noTES. 263 

Note C C. page 143. 

Naturalists, 6S well as antiquarians, were formerly prone to investi' 
gallons which, to the unenlightened and uninitiatea, might, perhaps, 
appear bordering on the ridiculous. It would seem that, in their cu- 
rious computations, they rather sought to surpass the wonders related 
- by some nval microscopic observer, than to adhere to the rigidness of 
mathematical calculation, or keep within the limits of rational prob- 
ability. They, indeed, becsune lost and bewildered in the very mi- 
nuteoess of their subject M. Leuwenhoek has computed, that a hun- 
dred of the single threads of a full-grown spider are not equal to the 
diameter of one single hair of his beard, and consequently if the 
threads and hair be both round, ten thousand threads are not bigger 
than such a hair ! He calculates fiulher, that when a young spider be- 
gins to spin, four hundred of these are not larger than one which is 
of full growth, allowing which, four millions of the single filaments 
of a young spider's web were not so big as a single hair of his beard ! 

A stfonge calculation — very probablv wrong m its data, and most 
certainly so in the conclusions deducea. 

Note D D. page 152. 

According to Aristotle, byssus was formed from the beard of the 
pinna ; but the name appears to have been used indiscriminately by 
other writers for any material that was spun, and the quality of whicja 
was finer and more valuable than woollen threads. 

Note E E. page 153. 

The fourth volume of Nicholson's Journal of Natural Philosophy 
contains a memoir on the insect fly-carrier, or caasada-worm, commu- 
nicated to the American Philosophical Society, as the result of his 
own ofwervations made in the island of St Etomingp, by M. Baudry 
des Lozieres. The insect here mentioned is not itself endowed with 
the faculty of producing fibres, and 3ret ia so curiously made &e 
depositary of a substaiice of this nature by oUier -animate creatures, 
that an abridged account of the p^nomenon may be found inter- 
esting. 

The insect fly-canier is, like the silkworm, prodnced from^ eggs de- 
posited by al>utterfly of a whitish or light pearl color. It is hatched 
about the latter end of July, and its development is so n^tid, that in 
September the worm is changed into a butterfly. It first comes forth 
decked in a robe of the most brilliant and vanegated colord, diflering 
in this respect frem the silkworm, which it otherwise resembles in ex- 
ternal shape. It feeds upon the leaves of the indigo and cassada 
plants : and as its devounng is carried forward day and night with 
scarcely any intermission, the ravages which it commits are considered 
as a serious evil by the planters, whoee attention has, for this reason, 
been more bestowed upon endeavors to destroy it, thm npon consid- 
ering in what manner to derive any advantage from its existence. 

In the month of August the worm undergoee one of its changes, and 
putting off the beauteous covering wherein it first exhibited itself ap- 
pears of only one color— a sea-green — reflecting all the shades of that 
color, '* according to the difilerent undulations of thA animal, and the 
difi^rent accidents of light'* This metamorphosis is the signal of at- 



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264 NOTES. 

tack from a ipeciei of the ichneumon fly.^a very small insect, which 
has obtained this name through the benefit it renders to man in the 
destnictifHi of various hurtful insects, and in which respect it is per* 
haps equally serviceable wiih the quadruped whose name it has thus 
been nutde^tabear, and which demolishes the joungt>f more foma- 
dable Uiough leaa numerous reptiles. These flies assail the oassada* 
wwm in such swarms, that it is affirmed tfiere is not one spot cm its 
back and sides lefl visibly uncovered by them. Proceeding immedi- 
ately to drive the attngs wherewith they are armed through the skin 
of the worm, the flies depoiit their eggs in the bottoms of me wounds 
they inflict During this painful operation, the cassada-worm exhibits 
all ^e signs of intense siifllerinf , struggling and wri^iing, and using 
every e£R>rt to shake off its cruel tonnentors. 

So soon a» the flies have' accomplished their object in safely de- 
positing their eggs, thc^ disappear ; the worm seems exhausted with 
Its previbus ei&rts, and remains ibr about an hour in a state of leth- 
ar^, from which, however, it then awakes, to feed with renewed 
avidity. 

In about fourteen days after havti^ thus been made the unwilling 
depositary of these eggs, and during which time the worm increases 
daily in, size, it is seen to be completely, covered with a living robe of 
animalculae, having a deep brown' color, so that no more than ^he top 
of its head can be perceived. If the operations of these newiy- 
hatched worms are then carefully exaininea, it will be seen that each, 
laising itself upon its hinder extremity, swings its head and body to 
and fro in every direction, and forms for itself an almost imperceptibly 
small egg-shaped cocoon, remaining, like the silkworm, in the interior 
of the ball ; making thus^ as it were, its own winding-sheet, and seem- 
tngbom but to die. 

These millions upon millions of cocoons, as they are described by 
M. des Iioaderes, the formation of which has not occupied a greater 
space of time thsui two hours, are placed so closely together that they 
form a white robe, in whieh the insect fly-carrier appears elegandy 
clothed. During this process of decoration the .worm remains in a 
state g[ torpidity ; but no sooner is the robe fully completed, than the 
wearer seeks to disencumber itaelf of its guests, aitd, after eibrts of 
some duration, jmd which appear greatly to exhaust its frame, auo- 
oeeds in the endeavor. Its appetite is now gone ; it speedily passes to 
the state of a chrvsalis; then becomes a butterfly; and, after giving 
birth to many hunoied eggs, appears thus to have fulfilled the end of 
its being, and^ies. 

When about eight days have elapsed from the flnt formaticm of the 
minute cocoons by the larvae, ichneumon flies issue from flMse, leaving 
the fibrous substance pure, beautifully fine, and of a dazzling white- 
ness. This, without any previous prepara'tion, may be immediately 
carded and spun. According to tne opinion exprased hv M. des 
Lozi^res, it is greatly superior iii every respect to vegetable cotton, 
while iniBome^rticUlars it is even preferable to the produce of the 
silkworm^ requiring less of time ana trouble for ite production, and 
bein^ greatly more abundant in its produce. 

It IS now, however, nearly forty years since the observations ot M. 
des Loziere9*\vere given to the worid, and no attempts have been 
made to realize the advantages which he pimnised fircmi the pursuit. 



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KOTSS. 265 

Note FF. page 180. 

The luperior fineness of some Indian muslins, and their quality of 
retaining, longer than European fabrics, an appearance of excellence, 
has occasioned a belief that the cotton wool of which they are woven 
is superior to any known elsewhere : this, however, is so far from be- 
ing the fact, that no cotton is to be found in India which at all equals 
in quality the better kinds produced in the United States of America. 
The excellence of India muslins must be wholly ascribed to the skil- 
fulness and patience of the workmen, as shown in the different pro- 
cesses of spinning and weaving. Their yarn is spun upon the distafl^ 
«nd it is owins to the dexterous use of the finger and thumb in form- 
ing the thread, and to the moisture which it thus imbibes, that iis 
fibres are more perfectlv incorporated than they can be through the 
employment of any mechanical substitutes. The weaving art is pur- 
sued to such an extent throughout the peninsula, that, according to 
Mr. Orme {Historical Fragments of the Mogul Empirs), "it is difficult, 
when not near the high road, or a principal town, to find a village in 
which every man, woman, and child, is not employed in makmg a 
piece of doth." Among the multitudes thus tramed from childhood 
to the pursuit of a simple occupation, it would be surprising if some 
individuals did not attam the capability of producing superior fabrics. 
The very fine muslins, which thus attest the proficiency of some of 
the Indians, and which have been poetically described as " webs of 
woven wind," are, however, viewed as curiosities even in the country 
of their production, and are made only in small quantities; so that, their 
use is limited, almost exclusively, to the princes of the land. 

Note G G. page 206. 

It sometimes happens that various branches of occupati(m in the silk 
immu&cture are carried on under the same roof, by difleren^ mem- 
bers of the same &mily. It once occurred to the author of this 
treatise, in the course of his visits among the operative weavers in the 
district of Spitalfields, -to visit a family consisting of a man, his wife, 
axKl ten chOdren, all of whom, with the exception of the two youngest 
girls, were engaged in useful em^doyments connected -with the silk 
mannfacture. 

The father, assisted by one of his ppns, was occupied with a machine^ 
mich as is mentioned in page 213, punching card slips from figures 
which another son, a fine mtelligent lad about thirteen years of age, 
was ** reading on." Two other lads, somewhat olde« were in another 
apartment, casting, drawing, punching, and attaching to cords the 
iCTden plummets or lingoe, which form part of the harness for a Jac- 
quard loom. The mother was engagea in warping silk, with a ma- 
chine similar to that described by^. 7. pagd 155. One of the daugh- 
ters was sinulariy employed at another machine, and three other girls 
were in three separate looms, weaving fi||ured silks, one by the aid 
ef ^e mechanical dnw-ho^, described at page 190, the others with 
Jacquard machines. 

An air of order and cheerfulness prevailed throughout* this busy 

establishment that was truly gratifying ; and, with the exception of 

the plummet-drawers, all were clean and neatly cla<L The particular 

occnpatioii wherein eitch was engaged, was explained most readily, 

K 



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266 NOTES. 

and with a degree of genuine politeness, which proved, that amid the 
harassing carea attendant upon daily toils of no ordinary degree, these 
parents had not been unmindful of their duty, as regaided the culti- 
vation of their children's minds and hearts. 

Note HH. page 248. 

Material substances have generally been divided into two classes, 
electrics and non-electrics ; which distinction, if taken strictly, is not 
correct: there is no positive line of demarcation between the two. 
There is not.any electric or non-conducting substance that is a perfect 
insulator; neither ia there any non-electnc or conducting substance 
that cannot, by friction, be made capable of exhibiting electrical phe- 
nomena. 



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INDEX. 



A/ 

Addiflon, 296. 

Alexander the Great, 
wrought silln from Persia, Vf. 

Allen, Mrs., of Wandsworth, 141. 

Amasis, king, 194. 

Anderson, Dr. James, introduces 
mulberry trees at Madras; pro- 
cures silkworms* eggs from ben- 
gal; his success, 41. His account 
of the evolutions of the silli- 
worm, 101. 

Anglicans guttae, 145. 

Antonius, Marcus, the emperor, 
sends ambassadors to China, 19. 

Antwerp, great trade existing in 
silk at; cit^ of, 31. Taken I^ 
the duke of Parma, govemor'of 
the Spanish Netherlands, 32. 

Appleton, John, Elsq., a patent 
grated to, for producing raw 
silk of the growth of England^ 
37. ^ 

Arbors formed of twigs, for spin- 
ning, 120. 

Ardeche, white silk produced in ; 
purchased by the manufacturers 
of Normandy, 164. 

Aristotle, preceptor of Alexander 
the Great, his account of the 
silkworm, 17. His description 
of the pinna, 151. 

Asia, the number of broods of silk- 
worms annually reared in, 91. 

Aston, Walter, a grant made to 
him of the custody of the gar- 
den, mulberry trees, and silk- 
worms, n^ar St. James's, in Mid- 
dlesex, 37. 

Augustus, silk little knownin Eu- 
rope previous to the reign of, 18. 

Aurelian, emperor, 19. 

B. 

Bacon, lord, 56. 

Baichu, a rebel, teakes himself 



master of most part of the. Chi- 
nese empire; massacres 8^ the 
inhabitants of the port of Canfu, 
the resort of foreign merchants, 
34. 

Banks, Sir Joseph, 41. 

Barbara, Mr. Henry, publishes an 
essay on the silkworm, 38. 

Basle, the manufacture of ribands 
becomes very considerable in, 54. 

Baum^, M., his manner of bleach- 
ing silk, 243. 

Bellardi, Dr. Lodovico, of Turin, 
experiment of, 137. 

Bengal, a quantity of raw silk im- 
ported into England from ; (qual- 
ity of, considered very inferior to 
that produced in Italy and Tur- 
key, 67. Improvement in the 
quality of) 68. Country, wound 
and filature, ib. 

Ql^me, silk for umbrellas manufiie- 
tured in, 54. 

Bertezen, Mr. Salvator, a gold 
medal adjudgeti to him by the 
Society of Arts, 129. 

Blanchard, Mons., experiment o^ 

^134. 

Bologna, the only city of Italy that 
issed -proper throwing mills, 



Bombazine, manafacture of, con- 
fined to the city of Norwich, 241. 

Bombykia, stuff procTuced from the 
silkworm, 16. 

Bombyx, the sflkworm, 16. 

Bon, Mons., collects a auantity of 
spiders' Imgs, fronh which a kind 
of silk is made, said to be. not 
inferior to that made from the 
bombyx, 143. Great compara- 
tive advantages adduced by him 
of his spider establishment, 144. 

Bonoeil, Mr. John, a work by, on 
the management of the silk- 
worm, 37. 



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268 INDEX. 

BoiiiIlon,.God(rey de, 29. 

Bourgeois, Mods., observationB of, 
on engraftins, 90, 

Briance, silk of, 164. 

Briruh dominions, another attempt 
made to produce silk in the ; a 
company mcorporated under the 
title of *" British, Irish, and C6- 
lonial Silk Company," 44. 

Brocade, gold and silver, metallic 
threads used in the making of; 
232. Gilt copper wire used in 
the spinning at Nurembeig, ib. 
Gilt and silver sUps of paper used 
by the Chinese, ib. 

Burlemach, Mr., a London mer- 
chant brought from the conti- 
nent of £urope silk throwsters, 
dyeci, and broad weavers, 56. 



Canfi], port of, becomes the reaort 
of foreign merchants, 24. 

Cardina, South, silkworms reared 
in,3a 

Card-slips perforated, difierent pat- 
terns made by ; advantuj^es aris- 
ing to the owner, 206. The 
tame set made to answer two 
dlHinct patterns, 207. 

Cartwright, Rev. Edmund,. D. D., 
invention of the power-loom by ; 
obtains a weaving patent; erects 
a weaying-mill at Doncaster; 
obtains three other 'patents; 
compelled to abandon his itian- 
u&ctory, 818. A sum of^ money 
voted by parliament as a compen- 
sation for his loss and disappoint- 
ment, 219. 

Castracani, Caagxiccio, 233. 

Caterpillar, the nrst state of the 
silkworm, 95. 

Catherine, empress of Russia, 41. 

Chazal, MMls., distributes silk- 
worms to piany of the colonists 
in the Isle qf France; claims the 
premium which was promised 
Dy the Society of Arts for the 
growth of silk in the British 
colonies; obtains a large gold 
medal, 43. Number of genera- 
tions of worms annually obtain- 
ed by, in the Isle of France, 92. 

Charlemagne^ emperor, sends two { 



silken vests to Offit king of Mer* 
cia, 24. 

Charles I. of England, issues a i»o- 
clamation as to the manner and 
ingredients to be used for dyeing 
silk, 56. 

Chartron, MM., pere et fils, silk 
establishment of, 176. 

Che-kiang, 27. 

China, enjoyed Aie use of silk an- 
terior to its introduction else- 
where ; the Uibors of the silk- 
wonh kitown in, 15. Enwmous 
quantity of silk in ; dimate of, 
congenial to the silkworm ; prov- 
inces of, fertile with mulberry 
trees i called by the ancients the 
Kingdom of Silk. 26. Possesses 
all ue necessaries and comforts, 
and even the luxuries, of life, 
27. Silk of, remarkable for its 
brilliant whiteness, 68. Number 
of crops of silk obtained in the 
year in, 91. 

Chlorine gas, fumigatioD with, 135. 

Chlorideof lime, 135. 

Chappe, 245. 

Chosroet king of Persia, his recep- 
tion of the Turkish ambassador, 
23. 

Cho<]uette8, 12a 

Christians, the expulsion o^ from 
Syria, 29. 

Chrysalides, destruction of, in Chi- 
na, 111. Method of destroying 
the vitality of^ by the solar rays ; 
in ovens ; by steam heat, 125. 

Chrysalis, second state of the silk- 
worm, 101. Timeofitaaiqpearing 
as a moth, 103. 

Cocoons, 15. Silkworm pods, 28. 
System lately adopted in India 
forgiving the necessary degree 
j}f heat to, while being wound, 
by means of steam, 69. The 
manner or reeling the silk (^ 
100. PouUp, foroSed by die 
worm not having sufficient 
spa(% ; method of gathering, 124. 
Selecting for bread, ib. Quan- 
tity selected for breed; meth^ 
of*^ preserving; necessity of se- 
parating damaged from others 
with which they are in ccmtac^ 
127. Good; pomted; calcined^; 



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iNDEX. 



269 



CDtnfit, 128. Relative value of; 

gopoitkm of pure silk in ; per- 
rated,129. Iroportional weight 
of eggs, and of mulberry leaves, 
190. Quantity of reded silk 
^t can be obtained from each, 
ib. Regulation of temperature 
necessary fi>r producm^ the 
moths from ; weight and size of, 
131. Necessity of classing the 
different kinds 0^155. Coloring 
matter of; 243. 

Coconidres, 127. 

Cocolons require the greatest care 
in Teelinf , 154. • 

Colbert, Mons., minister of Louis 
XIV. of France, gives mulberry 
trees fix>m the royBl nurseries; 
causes them to be removed and 
planted at the expense of gov- 
ernment, 35. 

Constantinople, silkworms . un- 
known in, until the middle of the 
sixth century, 17. Silkworms 
introduced into, 21. 

Cordova, 30. - 

Cotton-plant, cultivation of, in 
Georgia, 39. 

Coventj^, ribandvweaveri of, peti- 
tion the legislature, 69. The 
principal seat of the riband man- 
ufitcture of England, 190. 

Coge, Mademoiselle, of EpinaL 
used with success the leaves of 
die scoramera for the nourish- 
ment of the silkworm, 140. 

Crape, the manner in which it is 
made, 84a 

Cfevelt, in Prussia, m an ufi tctories 
of ribands and broad velvets es- 
tablished in, 54. 



' D. 
DamasksQk, the early introduction 
of it into England ; principally 
confined to the use of the nigh- 
bom; used lor garments and or* 
iiamentalfttiiiitun^237. Qrigfai- 
aUy brought fiom Damascus, ib. 
The mm in which it is manu- 
factured, 23a 

uitto, a modification of 
invented by the Vene- 
tians, 233. 
Pandoliires, establishments formed 



in Lombardy according to the 
recommendation of count Dan- 
dolo, 13a 

Dandolo, Count, his opinion as to 
obtaining more thim one crop of 
silk in the 3^ear, 9!^ His acdount 
of the various changes of the 
silkworm, 101. Recommends 
the use of stoves for heating the 
apartments in which eggs are 
hatched, 115. His mode of 
treating the silkworm set forth 
in his writings, 133. 

Diggs, Mr. Edward, 37. 

Dra^-boy, a description of, 198. 
Manner of working it, ib. Va-~ 
rious improvements of, 200. 

Draw-loom, 197. 

Ducapes, a kind of silk, 239. 

Duff, Mr., 200. 

Du Halde, his account of the Chi- 
nese manner of pruning and 
placing their mulberry trees, 90. 

Dupin, ^aron Charles, hia re- 
searches into all subjects con- 
nected with oommemal ques- 
tions, 82. 



Eggs of the silkworm, brought by 
two Persian missionaries from 
China; hatehed Jl>y the warmth 
of manure, 21. A description 
of; the number of, produced by 
the female moth, 105. . Chinese 
mode of deiasring the hatching 
oC 109. The proper choice of, 
die first care of the cultivator, 
114 How to choose them, ib. 

Egypt, the government o^ imposes 
neavy duties on the transit of 
mercnandise, 29. 

ElHsbaan, king of Axuma, 20. 

Elinbeth, queen of England, pre- 
sented by Mrs. Montague, her 
silkwoman, with a/fNiir of knit 
silk stockings, 32. 

Englaikd, imports a vast quantity 
of raw axid wrought silk finom 
China, 47. Silks manufactured 
in, not inferior in quality to 
those of France, 83. Recent 
att«mpt to rear silkworms in, 140, 

Eperic Abb6, the, of Carpenttas, 
experiment of, 134. 
X2 *^ 



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270 



IKDEX* 



EmmiphiMii, governor of die Hom- 
erilee in Arabia Felix, SO. 



Farquhar, Sir Robert, appointed 
governor or the Afauriuus ; pro- 
cures Bilkwomu* eggs from Ben- 
gal, 42. 

Ferdinand V., conquers Grenada ; 
finds numerous establisbments 
for the production of silk, 30. 

Filature, a description of the build- 
ing designed ibr, 154> 

Florence, silk manufiicture exten- 
sively followed at, 28. 

France, first introduction of the 
silk manufacture there, 26. De- 
rives consideraUe wealth Irom 
prosecuting the silk trade with 
England, 30. The growth of 
silk confined exclusively to the 
southern provinces, 47. Pro- 
hibits the exportation of hiw 
ttlk, 51. Commercial treaty 
with England, 60. Comparative 
Matement of cost of manu&cture 
there uid in England, 81. Low 
wages paid to silk throwsters 
for labor, 176. 

Francis I. of France, the manufiic- 
ture <^ silk took i;oot in France 
during his rcagn, 26. 

Franklin, Dr., 123. 

Frederick William, grand elector 
of Brandenberg, 42. 

Friuli, a large species of silkworm 
to be found in ; produce yielded 
by them, 108. 



Gauze, auppoeed first to have been 
made in Gaza, a city of Pales- 
tine, fiitnn which it derives its 
name, 229. Principally carried 
<Hi at Paislev ; mode of weaving 
describedfio. Difficulty atten^^ 
ing it; superiority of French 
gauze, 231. 

Genoa, 31. 

Georgia, silkworms teared ki, 38. 

- The poduction of silk discon- 
tinuea in, 39. 

Greece, ^ empeioft of, no longer 
obliged tn have rea>urse to Per- 
sia for silk, 23. 



Gresham, ^r Thomai, pireBenfa 
Edward VI. with a pair of long 
Spanish silk stockings, 32. 

Grimshaw, Robert, md sons, of 
Manchester, erect a weaving 
factory ; enter into an agreement 
with Dr. Cartwright to use bis 
patent, 219. Their fectory de- 
stroyed by fire, ib. 

Gro6-ae-naples, a kind of silk, 239. 

Gros^des-indes, pecuMari^ of struc- 
ture, 240. 

Guicciardini, his account of the 
trade of Antwerp, 31. 

H. 

Hasselquist, Dr., observes the 
habits of the pinna, 151. 

Hatching, 95. Method of, in China, 
described, 109. Mediod pursued 
in Italy, 114. 

Heintz,- Baron, Prussian niniater 
of state, cultivates the mulbeny 
tree, and produces nlk upcm hia 
estate, 42. 

Helio^balus habits himself wholly 
in «lk; this is recorded as an 
act of wanton prodieidity, 19. 

Henry V. of England, nis mvasion 
of France, 29. 

Henry VIII. of England, occasion- 
ally obtained silk stockings from 
^ Spain, 32. , 

Henry IV. of France, encotira|^ef 
the silk manufacture, and incites 
the Parisians to establish silk 
manufactories ; grants letters 
patent, conferring on success and 
perseverance the titles of no- 
bility, 34. Establishes nurseries 
of mulberry trees, 35. 

Herodotus speaks of figure-weav- 
ing, J 94. 

Hoang-tde, 15. 

Howcil, his history of the worid, 
31. 

Hughes, a si&-weaver, improves 
the draw-boy, 200. His improve- 
ment in card-slips for 'the Jao* 
quard machine, 207. 

I. 
IndSa, East, CMopeny, eiitablish- 
ments for producing raw and 
wrought vDc in the territories 



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271 



i>C 40« D^roBt qoaliUeA pro- 
duced in di&rent districts, 68. 
The kind of building employed 
in India for rearing silkwonns, 
111. 

Ireland, an endeavor made to rear 
siikworms in, 44 This attempt 
abandoned, and why, 45. 

l&lorns, bishop of Hispalis, in 
Spain, hid ignorance of the silk- 
worm, and misrepresentations 
concerning the manufacture of 
silk, 18. 

Isnard on the culture of silk ; his 
ainhority long considered un- 
questionable, 113. 

J. ^ 

Jaoquard, M., a practical weaver 
or Lyons, the inventor of the 
Jacquard loom, 201. 

Jacquard loom, the, a description 
of, 202. Alteration and improve- 
ment of, noticed and rewarded 
by the Society of Arts, 208. An- 
other alteration and inq>rove- 
ment of; 209. Obstacles to its 
original introduction into Lyons, 
211. 

James I. of England, repeals the 
statute forbidding the English 
citizens to wear lulk, 31. En- 
deavors to introduce the rearing 
of silkworms in England, 35. 
And into his American colonies, 
36. 

JenniiMiB, Mr., his impiovements of 
the. Jacquard machine, 209. 

Jones, an engine maker, improves 
the <lraw-bc^, 200. 

Justinian, Emperor, 15. Sends em- 
bassies to Elasbaan, kin^ of 
Axuma and Eeimiphsus ; injures 
the nlk trade by heavy duttes, 
20. Takes the manufiM^ture of 
•ilk into his own hands, 22. 

K. 
Keyslar, his acocnint of tfie estima- 
bon in which English silk stock- 
iM were held at Naples, in 1730, 

K(M, the island of. «ilk manufko- 
mredin, at m early perwd, 16. 



Lea, Rev. William, of St Jciin^u 
college, Cambridge, inventor of 
the stocking frame, 33. Goes to 
France by the invitation of 
Henry IV., accompanied by sev- 
eral journeymen ; establishes his 
looms at Rouen; abandons his 
establishments; dies in Paris, ib. 

Lemery, his commentary on 
Pomet's work, 114. Asserts that 
silkworms have a medicinal vir- 
tue, 247. 

Levantine, a kind of silk, 240. 

Linneeus enumerates seven distinct 
species of the mulberrv tree, 86. 

Locke noticed the use of damask as 
an unwarrantable luxury, 238. 

Lombe, Mr., of Derl^, erects a 
stupendous throwing mill on the 
river Derwent, at Derby, 61. 

London, the nursery of the infant 
branches of the silk manufac- 
ture, 73. A silk manu^turer 
of, a comparative statement of 
the cost of groe-de-naples at Ly* 
ons and in London, drawn up 
by, 81. 

Looom, the simple, used in weaving 
plain silks, described, 180. Mode 
gf its action, 181. Mounting the 
loom described, 184. 

Loom engine, Dutch* a description 
of; 18^ Chiefly used in Cov- 
•itry, 19a 

Louis XI. said to have first intro- 
duced silk into France, 30. 

Lucca, brocades manu&ctured in, 
23a 

Lustres, ^34|. 

Lyons, the greatest silk manufiu;- 
turing city of France, *7. Low 
rate of wagee paid for labor in, 
176. 

M. 
Mftcfaiavel, his Memoirs of Gas- 

taoccio C^stracani, 233. . 
Malpighius, his *" Anatomy of die 

Silkworm," 101. 
Malta, the island of, an establish- 

ment for the produce of silk ia ; 

atteivled with success, 44. 
Maniak, a Sogdian prince, sent u 



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INDBX. 



amiwandor to the king of Persia, 
83. 

Marcellinus Ammianua, his de* 
BCription of the Seres, 16. 

Marasret, daughter of Henry HI. 
or England, marriage of, with 
Alexander HI. of Scothuid; 
EngUsh knights appeared at the 
nuptials in cointises of silk, 26. 

Mary, queen of E^ghind, makes a 
law im>hibitlng the middle clas- 
•es of English citizens fiom 
wearing silk, 31. 

Mayet, his work on the culture of 
suk in the Phianin dominions, 
42. His remarks on the mulberry 
tree,8a 

Mephitic air, prejudicial, to silk- 
worms, 133. 

Mezeray relates attempts made to 
breed silkworms in and near 
Paris, 34. 

Milan, trade of) with Antwerp, 31. 

Mills, throwing, ccmstructed and 
worked in several cities of Italy, 
28. Introduced in England, 61. 
Descriptioa of machinery, 166. 
Improved construction or those 
recently erected in the neighbor- 
hood of London, 175. Great 
improvements o^ in England, not 
adopted in other countries, 176. 

Modena, silkworms rear^ in, yield 
a revenue to the state; itrtilk 
once esteemed the best in liltn- 
hardy, 28l 

Monteith, Mr., of PoUockshaw, 
near Glasgow, erecta the fhrst 
power-4oom that was applied to 
tha weaving t>f cotton fobrics, 
219. 

Montpelier drops, prepared from 
spKrersak,14d. 

Afolh, a description <^ the coming 
forth of the ; manner of its ex- 
trication, 104. The tune it is- 
toes from its concealment, 131. 

Moulting of silkworms described, 
97. 

Mulberry trees, destruction oC in 
China, 24. Cultivation of, in 
France, first confined to Pro- 
vence, 35. Cultivation ofi in 
Dauphin^, Languedoc, Vivarais, 
Lyonnois, Gascony, wd Saint- 



onge, ib. A considerable nafu* 
ber of white mulberry trees 
planted in America, 40. Growth 
of, in Malta, greater than in 
Italy ; growth of in St Helena, 

- 45. On the culture of ; dififerent 
species o^ described, 86. \Vlute 
mulberry planted in Europe; 
came originally from China ; 
tinctoria mulberry not used for 
the nourishment of the silkworm, 
ib. ■ Soil and situation most &- ^ 
vorable fi>r, 88. Manner of 
raising it from layers, from seed, 
from cuttings, 89. Chinese man- 
ner of pruning and facing, 90. 
Ingrafting the surest methmi of 
obtaining nutritious leaves from, 
ib. Nutritive qualities of, 92. 
The manner of preserving tiie 
leaves; the quantity which may 
be taken from one tree in each 
year, 93. This tree sacred to 
the silkworm, 94. 

Muscle, the, called the caterpillar 
of the sea, 147. The power it 
possesses of continualhr pro- 
ducing new^threads, 148. Silk 
produced from, 149. 

Murcia, silk manu&cturen there, 

ao. 

N. 

Nan-kin, in China, its inexhaustihle 
abundance of silk, 27. 

Nantes, the edict of the revocation 
<^58l Some of the consequences 
of that measure, ib. 

Naples, its trade with Antwerp, 31. 

Neumann, his chemical examina- 
tion of silk, 246. 

Nollet, Mens., his account of the 
culture of silk in Tuscany, 91. 

Norwich, celebrated for its manu- 
facture of i^wls, 242. 

" O. 

Oppianns, the Greek poet, descrip- 
tion of Xhk pinna by, 151. ' 

Organzine, its principu use, 166. 

Oi]^anzining, expense o£t in France ; 
m London ; waste in the process 
of making it, 177. 

Ortolengi, an Italian gentleman, 
sent to Georgia to instruct the 



- Digitized by VjOOQIC 



INDEX. 273 



colonists in the Italian mode of 
producing silk, 38. 



Famphila converts the silks of the 
Seres into transparent gauze, 16. 

Paris, mulberry trees planted near, 
34. 

Park, Chelsea, planted with mul- 
berry trees, 37. 

Parliannent, an act of, passed in 
1765, prohibiting the importation 
of various descriptions (u foreign 
silk goods into Eneland, 64. 

Peter me Great, of Russia, causes 
tnulbeny trees to be planted and 
cultivated in his dominions, 41. 

Persia, for centuries the channel of 
communication between Rome 
and China ; its monopoly of the 
silk trade with India ana China, 
19. Famishes silks to the in- 
habitants of Constantinople, 20. 
Two monks sent to China firom ; 
they discover the labors of the 
silkworm, 21. Unite with the 
Chinese against the Turks, 23. 

Persian, a very slight description 
of silk, 239. 

Piedmont, regulations and restric- 
tions in, for procuring regularity 
in size, and uniformity in the 
working of machines employed 
for reeling silk, 163. Govern- 
ment of) the oppressiveness and 
impolicy of, 1d4. 

Pinna, a description of, called the 
silkworm of the sea, 147. Spin- 
ning organ of, 148. Manner of 
forming its threads different from 
land insects, 149. "Its cancer 
friend," made the subject of 
poetry, 150. The nature of their 
alliance ; these fish found on the 
coast of Provence and Italy, and 
in the Indian Ocean, ib. MannA 
of taking it; the threads of, 
known to the amiients^ 152. 
Pinnotores, a small species of crab, 

161. 
Pliny asserts the silkworm to be a 
native of Kos, 16.. His account 
of the silkworm, 18. His de- 
scription of the pinna, 151. 



Polo, Marco, his account of Cam- 
balu, the royal city of Persia, 26. 

Pomier, Mens., a treatise Written 
by him on engrafling, 91. 

Pope, mention made by him of 
brocade, 236. 

Poplins, the best quality of, manu- 
4ctured in Dublin, 242. 

Pomet, chief druggist to Louis le 
Grand, 113. 

Power-loom, 216. Constructed by 
Mr- Austin of Glas^w, a model 
of which is placed in the repos* 
itory of the Society of Arts ; a 
description of, 220. Mode of its 
action, ib. Hand power-looms, 
223. Mr. Sadler's mvention; ib. 
R^isons a^inst the use of power* 
looms in silk weaving, 224. 

Pullein, his directions for saving 
and i»eparing the seed of the 
mulberry tree, 88. An expert- 
ment by him, 94- 



Reaumur, M., the celebrated natu- 
ralist, 142. Appointed by the 
Rojral Acaden^ of Sciences at 
Paris, to inquire into the merits 
of silk produced by spiders ; the 
result of his investigation, 145. 
Hi9«bseivations on muscles, 148. 

"Reel, a description of the, 155. 

Reeling descBiJi>ed, 154. Establish- 
ments in France for the purpose, 
inferior to those of Italy, 163. 

Rhodes, Miss, of Yorkshire, 131. 
Her experiment of feedingsilk- 
worms on lettuce leaves, 139. 

Ribands, plain, manner of weaving, 
189. Great improvement in, 191. 
Equal to the finest description of 
foreign make, ib. 

Richards, an ingenious silk weaver, 
improves the draw-boy, 200. 

Roger I. king of Sicily, leads into 
captivity a considerable number 
of Greek silk weavers, whom he 
settled in Palermo, 25. 

Romans, supply most other parts 
of Europe with silk ; poraess the 
breed of silkworms, which had 
been transferred 600 years be* 



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274 INDEX. 

ibre from the remotett part of the I 
East, 25. 

Rome, the high price of silk in, 19. 

Rosier, Mens., experiments of, 122. 
Reoonus^nds the use of metalhc 
conductors in silkworms' apart- 
ments, 123. 

Russia, establisbments m, fi>r man- 
ufitcturing silk of native produo- 
tioQ,42. 

& 

Sanuto, Marino, a Venetian, pub- 
lishes a work entitled ** Secrets 
of the Faithful," 29. 

Sardinia, kinf of; prohibits the ex- 
portation of raw silk, 62. 

Sarsnet, description of, 239. 

Satin, the manner in which it is 
made, 239. 

Sauvagues, Bossier de, his experi- 
ments as to the degree of neat 
which the silkworm can bear, 
102. 

SchaflThausen, silk manu&ctured 
in, 54. 

Scuttlefish a deadly foe of the 
pinna, 150. 

Se, the name for silk in the Chi- 
nese language, 15. 

See-ling-shee, consort of Hoanff- 
tee, her observations on the silk 
{MToduced b^ the worm, 15. 

Seres, the designation given by the 
Greeks and Romans to the in- 
habitants of Sereinda, 15. 

Serica identical with Sereinda, 15. 

Sereinda, part of India lying be- 
3rond &e Ganges, 15. 

Sericum, or silk, various accounts 

given by several writers as to 
ow it is produced, 18. Appro- 
priated in Rome wholly to wo- 
men of rank, ib. 

Shuttle, a description of, 185. 

Shuttle-box described, 195. - 

Sicily, island of, quantity of silk ex- 
ported annually from, 52. 

^gles, the most simple process in 
silk throwing, 166. 

Smuggling, impossible to be pre- 
vented, 77. Moral evils attend- 
" :it,78. 



ians wish to supply Persia 
with silk, 23. * 

Solomon's temple, no mention 



made of silk m the embellish- 
ment of, 17. 

Soufloin, imperfect cocoons, 128. 

Spain, its progress in the manu&c- 
ture of sil£ 30. 

Spitalfields, a number of French 
emigrants settle in, 58. 

Sinnmng of silkworms, prepara- 
tions lor. 111. 

Spiders, manner of producing their 
webs; the power they possess 
of producing threads of different 
decrees of tenuity, 142. Bags; 
143. Small produce of sOk 
fh>m, 146. 

Staunton, SirGeoive, his account 
of the silk manumctore in China, 
46. 

St George, the military order of; 
the first riband ^t was attached 
to the decoration of, manufiu:- 
tured from the {woduce of the 
Achtouba colony in Russia, 4^ 

St fiLelena, island o^ silkworms' 
eggs sent to, 45. 

Stockholm Joumsd gives an ac- 
count of the growth of silk in 
Sweden, 43. 

Stove-rooms, use of, 115. Temper- 
ature of, ib. 

St Pierre, Louis de, brings to per- 
fection the art of making wme, 
and the production of silk at 
New Bordeaux in Carolina ; no- 
ticed by the Society o£ Arts; 
presented by them with their 
gold medal, and a premium of 
501,39. 

Silk, time of its earliest use un- 
known ; first adopted in the East, 
14. Extensive manu&cture of; 
in Persia, 'IVre, and Berytus, 16. 
Wrought silk brought wixa Per- 
sia by Alexander me Great, 17. 
Little known^ in Europe before 
the reign of' Augustus ; highly 

Srized by the Romans, 18. Heavy 
uties laid on by the emperor 
Justinian ; rises in price in Con* 
stantinople, 20. Trade in, de* 
stroyed by Baichu, 24. Adopted 
in England shortly after the con- 
quest; successful estabUshment 
of, in Sicily, 26. First introduced 
into Francis by Louis XI. ; nu« 



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275 



neroiis establiBhmenta for the 
production of, in Granada, 90. 
Improvement of, in England, 31. 
Becomes of national importance, 
32. A very general manufacture 
in France, 34. An act passed 
for encouraging the growth of 
colonial, 38. An attempt to pro* 
duce silk in England, 44. Growth 
of, in Sweden, 43. The greatest 
quantity of, produced in Nan- 
kin, 46. Growth of, confined to 
the touthem provinces of France; 
amount of, imported into Eng- 
land from China, 47. Prohibi' 
tion of the exportation of, from 
France, 51. Raw silk imported 
through France from Italy into 
England, ib. Lustrings and 
alaraodes brought to great per- 
fection in England; various 
kinds of^ introduced by the 
French emigrants into England, 
58. High duty on, abandoned, 
71. Consequent great improve- 
ments in the manufacture of, 72. 
Duties chai^eable upon the im- 
portation ot, 84. Number of 
broods obtained in the year in 
China, 91. Attempts to produce 
■ilk from different animals, 141. 
Made from spiders' bags, man- 
ner of preparing, 143. Italian 
thrown, nigh protecting duty on 
the importation of; reduction of 
duty on, 174. Englush thrown, 
improved quali^, 175. Manner 
of watering ; of^ embossing, 240, 
241. Process for bleaching, 243. 
Chemical properties o^ 246. A 
protection against malaria; for- 
merly used as a medicine, 247. 
The electric properties o^ how 
first discovered, 248. 
Klkworm, the labors of, wholly 
confined to the Chinese, until the 
reign of the emperor Justinian, 
15. PUny's account of; Aristo- 
tle's account of, 18. Introduced 
into Constantinople hy two Per- 
sian monks, 21. Fed with the 
leaves of the wild mulberry 
tree, ib. Successfully reared, 
in different parts of Greece, 23. 
Valuable breed of; alone pos- 



sessed by the Romans, m 1146, 
25. An attempt made to breed 
at the Tuileries, Fontainebleao, 
and the castle of Madrid, 34. 
Attempts made in fin^land to 
breed ; became a subject of in- 
terest in Virginia, 36. In Geor* 
gia and South Carolina, 38. 
Reared successfully at Bauen- 
hoff, in Livonia; an attempt 
made to rear in Russia, 41 « 
Reared in England as objects 
of curiosity and amusement, 45. 
Solely subsists on the leaves of 
tiie mulberry tree, 86. The 
number of broods annuallv rear- 
ed in Asia, in the Isle of France, 
and in Tuscany, 91. Its small 
desiro of locomotion, 96. A de- 
scription of) after moulting, 98 
Spinning, a description of, 99. 
Count mndolo's account of the 
various changes of, 101. Sudden 
transitions from cold to heat in- 
jurious to; Dr. Anderson's ac- 
count of the evolutions of, ib. 
Length of, at different ages, 106. 
Injuriously affectod by change 
of^ climate ; varieties of, 107. 
Mode of rearing, in China,; 
sometimes reared on trees, 108, 

109. Situation of r^fing rooms; 
number of meals m the day ; 
necessity of preventing damp, 

110. Cleanliness necessary m 
the rearing of. 111. Space al- 
lotted to, ib. Building employed 
in India for the rearing of; ib. 
Mode of rearing in Europe; 
great degree of carefulness re- 
quired in the rearing of, 112. 
Absurdities formerly believed 
concerning, 113. Manner of con- 
veying to a considerable distance, 
llo. Necessity of classing ac- 
cording to their ages, 117. Regu- 
lation of temperature in the 
apartments of; while formmg 
their cocoons ; will not roin in a 
cold atmosphere, 131. infect of 
noise on; electric influence of, 
121, 122. Labor required in the 
rearing of; 13L Diseases of, 132. 
Li^t not injurious to, 135. De- 
scnption of apartments allotted 



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ffibsx. 



to them in cottages; Ul eficlcts 
which arise to their atlendants, 
136. Attempts made to substi- 
tute other food for mulberry 
leaves, 137. 
Sub-eericum, a mixture of silk 
witt) other fibres, worn in Rome, 

la 

Swayne. Rev. Mr., his apparatus 
for, during their caterpillar stale, 
117. His experiment as to the 
relative merits of difierent kinds 
of nourishment for silkworms, 
13a 

Sweden, an attempt made to rear 
silkworms in, 43. 

Swinburne, travels in Calabria, 87. 

Switzerland, rapid progress of the 
silk manufacture in, 53. 

Synmier, Mr., his experiments on 
the electric properties of silk, 
249. 

T. 

Temple, Kr William, his account 

of the trade of Antwerp, 31. 
Theophanes, his notice of silk, 17. 
Thom^, Mons., his observations on 

engrafting mulberry trees, 90. 
Throwing, art of, brought from 

Italy; improvements since made, 

165. . 
Throwsters, silk, incorporated in 

London, 56. 
Thuanus, his account of the in- 
troduction of silk into France, 

30. 
Tram, a description of thrown silk, 

166. 
Turkey supplies England with raw 

silk, 53. 
Tuscany, two broods of worms 

reared in the year there, 91. 

U. 

Utrecht, the treaty of, 59. 

V. 
Vaucanson, Mons., engaged by 
the French {government; con- 
trives a machine similar to that 



of I he Venetians, for producing 
damasquitte, 233. 

Velvet, French, supNeriority of; its 
first introduction into Englaiid; 
Chinese, inferior to that manu- 
factured in Europe, 225. The 
structure of; process of weaving, 
226, 227. ^metimes woven 
with stripes, 228. German, ib. 

Ven-hVen-tung, Chinese historian, 
19. 

Venice, commercial relation of, 
with the Greek empire ; supplies 
the west of Europe with silk, 
24. Manufacture of silk in high 
esteem ; practised without degra- 
dation by the higher classes, 28. 

Virginia, a considerable number of 
mulberry trees planted in, but 
Utile silk produced, 37. 

W. 

Warping machine, description of; 
manner in which it is worked, 
183. 

Weavers, stocking, incorporated by 
ToyBl ordinance in France, 49. 

Weavina plain, antiqui^ of, in- 
volved in obscurity, 178. Little 
improvement in the apparatus 
for, 179. Indian, manner of; 
figure, the art of; 192. Antiquity 
of; practised by the Ejnrptians 
at an early period, 194.^ Methods 
of, ib. Superiority of the French 

W patterns, 214. Power, 215. 
elter discovers ''the hiUerprin. 
ciple," 245. 

Westrum, his investigations of th« 
chemical properties of silk, 246. 

Williams, Mrs., account of variouv 
trials which sh^ made of yege^ 
table substances as 8abBtitute» 
for mulberry leaves in feedinj^ 
silkworms, 140. 

Winding machine described, 168L 



Zonaras, his notice of silkr 17- 
Zurich, extensive nlk manofitctuiv 
of, 54. 



THE END. 



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